From Burnout to Balance: A Holistic Approach to Business with Heidi Weiland

This episode is for women entrepreneurs and sensitive solopreneurs who are tired of urgency-based sales tactics and burnout cycles. We dive into how trusting yourself, calming your nervous system, and taking aligned, not massive action leads to sustainable growth, authentic visibility, and deeper client connections. 

Takeaways from today's show:

• Heidi's journey from burnout to holistic coaching.
• The definition of a sensitive entrepreneur.
• The importance of nervous system awareness in business.
• Ditching urgency and scarcity for sustainable growth.
• Building with your nervous system, not against it.
• Why aligned action is more effective than massive action.
• Visibility is crucial for business growth.
• The role of energetics in business success.
• The impact of intention behind actions.
• Growing a business is a profound personal growth journey.

More about Heidi:

Heidi Weiland, a holistic business coach who helps sensitive solopreneurs scale with strategy, soul, and self-care. Heidi’s journey—from building a successful agency to burning out, then completely reimagining how business could feel... will resonate with anyone who’s ever questioned hustle culture. She’s now guiding others to grow without sacrificing their well-being, integrating nervous system awareness, Human Design, intuitive strategy, and soul-aligned action.

Connect on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/servicewithsoul/

 Free Aligned Business Essentials Checklist: https://servicewithsoul.co/resources/aligned-business-essentials-checklist/

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Website: thevisibilityimpactshow.com

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LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/crissyconner 

Transcript

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Welcome back to the visibility impact show. Today we have an amazing guest who is a holistic business coach who helps sensitive solopreneurs scale with strategy, soul and self care. Her journey is from building a successful agency to burnout then completely reimagining how business could feel will resonate with anyone who's ever questioned hustle culture. She's now guiding others to grow without sacrificing their well being integrating nervous system awareness, human design, intuitive strategy and soul aligned action. Welcome to today's show Heidi Weiland we are so excited to have you here. Thank you so much, Chrissy, and thank you for the lovely introduction. It's just always so lovely to hear that reflected back at you, right? So good. yes, absolutely. So obviously I did an intro, but I would love for you to give us a quick story of how you ended up where you are today. Yeah, you know, I started working for myself when I was probably 23, so early 2000s. And I gave it my all. I loved it. I had a remote lifestyle, first designing websites, and then it kind of grew into an agency and all these different versions. And after a while, I started to feel not so happy. And actually, it took a while. I did not have nearly the awareness I have today. It took a while for me to realize I was actually extremely burnt out. And how did I know this is that I hated waking up and getting to work. I would go on a vacation and like be crying in the airport before I came home and really trying to solve that by hiring another person, creating another system. and doing all of these external things without addressing the internal reasons of why I was feeling in burnout. So what happened, it was just very intuitively led to sign up for a yoga teacher training. And that was like, my gosh, a door open to a whole other path. I would walk into the yoga studio on Friday afternoons and just feel like, my gosh, like a different person. And I wanted more of that. So I kept following that path that led to Ayurveda, to coaching, and eventually to another separate business. And so for a while I had these two businesses. And now what I've done is I've interweaved the best of both to feel, so I feel, you know, I have the strategy. and the operations and all that business stuff, but built on a foundation of deep self-knowing, deep self-care. That's amazing. I love that. And I love how we can take multiple facets of what we've done in the past and marry them together to build like our own unique thing. Yeah. And I really feel like it's like all the suffering that happens along the way, like that is where you learn what you need to learn in order to then create that path, that next version, that offer that you share with people. Yeah, yeah, so true, so true. So one of the things that you say a lot and I've seen it and when I looked at your bio and things like that, you mentioned the word sensitive entrepreneur. Can you like go a little deeper on what does that mean exactly? Yeah, that's a great question because it is, it's kind of a broad word. feel like, so my experience has been, um, you know, there's so much great business information out there and strategy, but because I'm, I'm an introvert and my nervous system is very sensitive, I get thrown into a stress response quite quickly. And I've been in rooms like these big expensive coaching rooms where there's, the people who are just thriving and there's the people who are kind of on the margins of like, oh, this is like, it's not going so well as I would have liked. And so for me, the sensitive part, it's like people who they need to incorporate awareness of their stress response, of their nervous system and approach the strategy that way with that. because otherwise if we try to do something that really internally we're blocking ourselves to do, it's not going to be effective. So like a sensitive person, might, you know, like I often say, like neurodivergence, folks with ADHD, really it's kind of like whoever feels like they don't fit that mainstream, you know. Yeah. So one of the things when I first started getting visible back in the day, like in 2016, one of my big fears, I'm an introvert as well. One of my big fears was being the center of attention, like I never wanted to be the center of attention. So there was a lot of work that I had to do on myself to be able to do that and to show you know, because back in 2016, I was going live. So to push the go live was like, Yeah. Yeah. But I really it's funny because it was like a big fear for me. And it was like, at the beginning of my business, it was like, I'll do anything, but I won't do that kind of situation. And it's funny because today it's my favorite way to create content. But back then it was so so unknown and I get hives really easy. And so I had hives that went all the way up my neck and I felt like I was kind of vomit, you know, it was like so many feelings and it's, it's interesting how that just shifts with some people. And I don't know if it's like a repetition thing. Like I did it so much. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I've been curious, was it just repetition or were you doing other work to help you move through that? Well, back in 26, like I didn't, I didn't probably know the energetic side of things never heard of human design, like probably until 2021 2022. So back then, maybe mindset work. But one of the things that I did, because it was really hard for me to say, I'm going to go live and I'm going to put my fears to the side and I'm gonna, you know, it's all me, me, me. And so what really helped me facilitate that pushing that go live button was it wasn't about me. It was about other people and I was willing to serve and support other people. That was more important to me than my feelings. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I totally connect with that. uh was just really interesting. But I attract a lot of introverts because when I first started my business, I that's what I did, I helped people get on video. So mostly most people were introverts who struggled with that. So I love the definition of a sensitive entrepreneur because there are so many of my listeners that are and feel that way. So I know this episode is really going to help them. So I want to shift into something that caught my eye. that you talked about and you mentioned about trusting yourself first, ditching urgency and scarcity tactics that can lead to more of authentic connections and sustainable growth. So I'd love to go deeper on that and get more like information from you about what that looks like. Yeah, so the urgency and scarcity tactics, you know, what they do is they put our nervous system into our version of fight or flight because we're operating from that. I have to make it work. I don't have enough time, money, clients, whatever it is. And so when we're in a stress response, like physiologically, our brain functions differently. And it reduces our connection to our creativity, to that openness that helps us, our wisdom to come out. And so we make different decisions. And those decisions tend to be trying to solve the problem as fast as possible, which leads to the hustle. if you are... taking actions repeatedly, hustling, and you're creating results, then you're teaching yourself that that is the way to get results in your business. And ultimately, that's gonna be unsustainable because you're stressed out, leading through stress. yeah, yeah. So then, like the antidote is to, you know, we do have to address like, the core needs of life, of getting our bills paid and all of that. So I always say, it's like, okay, if you need to make some money, like make sure that you have enough money that you can show up in your business without that being a factor, a stress factor. So, you know, make sure you have your needs met and then approach the work first from a place of calming. yourself and there's so many different strategies for that. I'm a yoga teacher. I have a lot of kind of like somatic practices, just three deep breaths in the morning when you sit down before you do your work or like do something like get on a video, you know, and that helps to relax the nervous system and just open you up into Like your wisdom and like your amazingness are what people are going to respond to way more than like being worried about checking all of the box and saying the right things. Yeah. Yeah, that's so good because I find when people in my audience or clients are coming from a place of lack and letting all their actions be based by fear versus abundance, it's like night and day. Can you see that? Yeah, yes, 100%. See it, experience it, absolutely. Yeah, and you know, it's interesting because I used to say, and I still kind of believe this, I mean, I've done so much work. But I do think that I felt like I was one of those people that had to work a little harder to stay out of lack, because my mind always wanted to go. And I did this coaching certification, it was called neurojetics. And we worked a lot on talked about the brain and how like, literally our brain wants to remember the bad stuff. So anytime we go to do something new, we're actually conditioned to remember the bad stuff, not the good stuff, but the bad stuff. And so, you know, that's, it's, very similar to the urgency and scarcity and our brain is not on our side in these things. Yeah, 100%. I was actually preparing for teaching a yoga class today and reading some of my textbooks. And it's just like, I know this stuff, but it's like a reminder of, it was talking about how thoughts, essentially, you need to see them from a distance because they, for lack of a better word, they can't always be trusted. And that's part of the reason because it's The brain is designed to scan for what's wrong, for danger, to keep us safe. so in our businesses, it's so important to see our thoughts from a distance and question, is this actually true? What else could be true? And take a very deliberate approach to how we think about what we're doing. Yeah, so good. I could talk about this all day, just so we're clear. Like all day long, we could talk about this and have like a two hour, three hour podcast episode. One of the things that you speak about is building with your nervous system, not against it. Can you talk a little bit? Because I don't, I know what this means, but I don't know that everybody understands when you say nervous system, what that means. And then how do you, how do you help clients like really identify what's truly sustainable for them. Yeah, yeah, it's definitely unique to everybody. So the nervous system, like we might be able to call it something like notice how stressed out you are, like notice your stress levels and like build into your workflow, your rhythm. So say videos, every Thursday you do a live video and you know that that you're feeling a little like stressed out by it. You're needing to get yourself psyched up and think about your audience who you're working or you're speaking to and noticing like the level of anxiety in your body and taking, yeah, a few breaths beforehand. Maybe you do a forward fold that down regulates your stress response. And then you do the video and then notice, are you psyched up and energized, which that happens for me now, or do you feel like, wow, I just did something big, and then create some space where you can let your nervous system, your stress calm down. And so then it becomes this cycle of, okay, we're stimulating ourselves, we're high energy, and then we drop down to relaxed energy. And then that evens out over time versus, okay, I just did the thing. Now I've got to push through and keep going and do more. And then at the end of the day, the week, the month, you're just like feeling so depleted. And when you're depleted, that's when those thoughts of scarcity and urgency get even stronger, right? The self doubt really can just kind of take off. So yeah. love that. there when I get on video, there are two things that I feel it's either first of all, I feel very convicted. So I'm being pulled. Like some topic is pulling me. to go get on video, right? And the second thing, if I'm not feeling convicted, I would call it maybe like grounding, but I really just like sit with myself, say a prayer, like what you leading me to share with my audience today? And both are really different energies. Both I believe attract and convert, but they're so different. And I love dualities. Dualities are so much fun. But I also just because we're humans or multifaceted, I think it's really great to have two different ways that that I get on video. It's either a boom, it's coming at you because it's just like I literally feel like something's pulling me in your direction or really set with it ground. Take some deep breaths like you said, and really imagine what the other person on the other end of the needs to hear today. Yeah. I love that you use the word multifaceted. So I think sometimes at least, I don't know, when I started this coaching journey, I felt like there was like this cookie cutter image that you needed to show. And really at least like, I don't know, the people that I want to work with and that want to work with me, they're not looking for just like, they're looking for a real human. And so I think you know, in coaching session, in a coaching relationship over time, like you're gonna, there's gonna be moments where, yeah, it's like that more like intense, inspired, and then a time where you're kind of sitting back and yeah, so that makes, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Awesome. Another thing that I wanted to touch base with you on because I love, I love both of these words, but I'm curious to hear what you have to say. So you said that why aligned action is more important than massive action. And I feel like I do both. And when I'm challenging myself, it might be more massive where in the day to day I'm doing more aligned. So I'd love to hear like your conversation around this. Yeah, yeah. So my take on it is, so with massive action that tends to be really growth oriented action that takes you out of your comfort zone. You know, your nervous system's a little like, I'm so excited. But if it's being led by urgency, by scarcity and self doubt and like doing something that doesn't quite feel like you, then the likelihood of that having a good result or good like sustainable result is a lot lower and then you're expending a bunch of energy and then, you know, kind of fall flat. Versus the align piece, which is coming from a place of clarity on, mean, not like 100 % clarity, but like knowing yourself. That's where something like human design comes in. of like for me, I'm a two four, which is like an introvert and then a connector. So I know that using like a DM robot is not gonna be a line for me. I did this once, I did a program that was all about using bots and the DMs and it felt really yucky, super yucky. And then I abandoned it, right? I wasn't even able to give it the chance after that initial excitement wore out to make it work for me. So I feel like when you can combine the two and have that clarity on, I work best in this way and I'm going to go all in massive action, like do the things that are uncomfortable, do like a push, then that is going to set you up so much better for. results and experience too. Like you're going to be like, yes, I did this. This feels like me. Look at what I achieved. I love that. So good. So good. Um, there was something that I wanted to, cause I know you said you, you are a holistic business coach. Do you talk a lot about like energetics? Yeah, do, you know, my background in Ayurveda and yoga. So I bring like a lot of that perspective and Ayurveda is all about nature and the seasons and cycles and understanding yourself and kind of your imbalances within that and how that translates into what you do in your life and business. So I bring it in as to meet the person where they're at. Some people were talking more about strategy and boots on the ground stuff. Some people, like we really need to lean into cleaning up what's happening energetically and giving them some tools to play with and to help them see things from that energetic perspective. Because I think Oftentimes, if you haven't been exposed to it, you know, it's like, it takes a little while to like, to learn and play and really prove to yourself that this is something that I should pay attention to. wanted to get the reason I asked that I wanted to get your your thoughts or perspective. I talked to my clients a lot about this and whether you say your intention or you say the energy behind it, I think either one work. But when you put a piece of content out and your energy or intention behind it is I hope this gets me a cell or I put a post a piece could be the same exact piece of content, right? And it is my intention and my energy behind it is I hope this really serves and supports someone today. Like, can we talk about like how that it can be the same but the energy behind it like it really shifts the results that you get from that piece of content or that video? It's wild. It's wild. I know. I, I feel like that, that, that first one of like, I have to get someone to sign up from this. It's just like this grip, like grip around it. And, and that, mean, for you, it like feels bad. And then you're projecting that out into, into, you know, the energy space and the other one, it's like, you're, you're releasing and, and you're creating space for something to come back to you. Or when you're holding on like this, it's like, no, you end up pushing it away. Yeah, that is so true for me. And honestly, that is my biggest work is staying true to that energy, to my energy, to my and my authentic, like radical authenticity. It's not always easy. We learn to like, especially in a lot of the sales stuff is like we're trying to manipulate things so that people perceive us a certain way and that shuts down our our genius, you know. Yeah. so I can note I can tell for myself, like if I'm doing a lot of video, I've actually deleted a live video. So it's like, that sounded really needy. That that that is not what I like. I didn't feel good about it. And literally, stop the recording, delete it and then go do it again. Like obviously, reset with myself and do it again, because it just felt gross to me. Like in interesting. I don't know that every on feels that or understands that because I think so many people are let's go back to your current conversation the conversation we had about their If they're in scarcity, right and they're in that urgency like I gotta make a sale this post has to work, right? and so they don't even understand that they're actually hurting themselves versus helping themselves because when it when you're doing it for I don't want to say the wrong reason because obviously we're in business to make money, but you're when you're doing it for the wrong intention or for give me money, give me money. You're just a dollar sign instead of a human being. I believe people can feel that. And I believe they scroll on by it. It's just noise. Yeah, I totally agree. I went to a networking event the other day and then one of the people reached out and sent me a DM and it was with that energy and immediately I'm like, no, sorry, you're a nice person but I'm not gonna respond to that, zero interest. Yeah. Yeah. it's and it's funny how you can tell that because we were doing a DM class the other day with my inner circle. And I said, I know this may not seem like it to you, but I feel like this this is a very similar conversation this guy sent me. But I feel like he was more genuine than this other person that said almost the same thing. Like I just got a totally different vibe. Wasn't the same words, but it was really similar. But I like this guy's energy was different. And I think he was more sincere than this other person. Yeah, yeah, I like to think that of this idea of, you you have the words here and then it's almost like a like a cloud of energy that's in front and and that's it's like fog, you know, you feel that first, you feel the cold fog on your face and whether that is inviting or, you know, salesy, you know, and then the words hit you and you already have an opinion, you know. Yes. so good. my gosh. I love this conversation. Okay. The next question I want to ask you is I want to shift into visibility a little bit and I want to ask how has visibility supported you and your business growth? It's everything. mean, if people don't see me, if they don't hear me, then they don't know. Especially as an introvert, it's, you know, I don't like talking about myself. I don't like being the center of attention, but I love talking about the ideas. I love talking about what helps people. I love helping people. so, like, finding ways to make that energy visible, then helps to attract people because I'm also a human design projector, which means that those more aggressive sales techniques are actually going to push people away. so, you know, finding ways to be seen in my magnetism is how I create, you know, really what fuels my business. So, yeah, so important. And it's hot, know, and like you said earlier, about the videos, like, it sometimes can take a little while to find that your comfort zone with it, to find the how you like to show up best. You know, I still find that I'm like tweaking my email voice and trying to seek ways to to like be even more like authentic and clear and helpful. It never really, I doubt that ever really changes. I mean, because the business landscape is constantly changing too. So yeah. So on the lines of visibility, I believe there's many ways to get visible. And so I would love to know what is your favorite way or your go-to visibility method? I love, I love teaching. love workshops a hundred percent. that's my zone of genius for I get into the flow. So finding ways that I can teach and then that gives me something to talk about in my, in my post, in my email. so that is, I love, love, love doing that. but I also, I love connecting with people one-on-one and, And I think that, I don't know, it's a smaller form of visibility, but it's a bigger, it's like a bigger opening. Like they see you and to be felt, you know, that you're just like deeply seen is really impact, like it just fills me up. Yeah. Yeah, and I think sometimes, you know, I talk about this because I think we should have a variety of visibility strategies. And it's like, I always say it's like the nutrition on your plate, how they say you should have different colors, you should have a very wide ability strategy too. And sometimes visibility is one on one. It's not to the masses. It is that one intimate conversation. And like you said, really seeing and hearing someone makes them feel so seen, which also makes you be so much more seen. to them because they're, you it goes back to that. What is it that people don't remember what you say, but they remember how you made them feel. It really is the epitome of that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 100%. And I feel like that's, mean, still sometimes I have to remind myself is it's, I don't need perfect words. I don't need to like spend too much time on this email, but really just making sure that that energy is there. And then, yeah, really sit into the wild. Yes. Yes. Love it. I love it. All right, we're gonna shift into some fun rapid fire questions. And so just answer whatever comes to your mind. Listener. She does not know what I'm about to ask her. So we're gonna see where this goes. And we're gonna have fun with it. Okay, what is your dream bucket list vacation? Oh, my bucket list vacation. I feel like I go on some pretty sweet adventures. So I would say Right now it would be a fancy yoga retreat in the mountains where let's bring in some Ayurveda. So, Upantakarma, it's an Ayurvedic experience where you do this like whole cleanse mind body spirit that was surrounded by mountains, like meditating and doing yoga and just sitting outside looking at the trees and listening to the birds for. a good couple weeks, that sounds amazing. That sounds really relaxing. So much so. So is there a book that you come back to again and again? Hmm. You know, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. Have you heard of that? Yeah. So it is, that was one of the first kind of self-help book programs I ever did in college. So I don't know, know, maybe 1999, 2000. And while... Like by coming back to it, it's not that I do the program again, but some of the core lessons, like taking yourself out for an artist date, I actually just kind of started doing that again about a month ago. And I feel like they're like, her practices are super simple and they just help you access this, like your creative side and. ground back into yourself and your voice. So yeah, and I saw her once. saw her, I went to a retreat with her for a weekend and she, I don't know, she was in her eighties like this, old woman up at the top. And she was like, no nonsense. We're gonna do these exercises. And she had us strangers there within a half an hour, like crying and connecting. It's so powerful, yeah. is awesome. It's funny that you said it was one of like the early personal development books that you read because the one I come to again and again is the compound effect. And it was one of the first books that I read that just had a massive change in my life. And like, that's the book that I even if I don't reread it, I come back to the like the methods or the framework and really just like it's never left me. So that's too funny. Just had to share that. So what is one weird or wonderful wellness habit that you swear by. gosh. Well, this falls in the wonderful uh category and I actually did this today. So self massage in Ayurveda, it's called Abhyanga and it means self love. And essentially you take a nice oil and you rub it on your body. This for me, especially during that kind of burnout phase, In the morning, I would do it every morning. It so grounding and calming to my nervous system. There's a million different benefits, you know, according to Ayurveda, but essentially it's just like, it's soothing. It makes you feel good and you can bring in essential oils, herbs, and just make a little ritual for yourself. Yeah, wonderful. I love that. That is wonderful. Definitely not weird. That's totally wonderful. I love that. So what is your favorite way to reset if you ever feel overwhelmed or overworked? Yeah, so taking a bath, I did this yesterday too. In midday, even if it's like two or three o'clock and I notice my brain is just, it is not in a grounded state of wisdom. If I do that, if I take a bath, a half an hour bath, sometimes I'll even just work in the bath. I definitely feel like my nervous system calms down. I feel so much more grounded. And then I can get back to life and I feel like myself and can just get back to work. Yeah. And then getting out in nature, any time in nature is so helpful. Yeah. my gosh. These have been so good. So good. So Heidi, this has been a beautiful conversation. I want to ask, is there anything that you would love to share or promote with our listeners? Yes, thank you, thank you, thank you for asking. Right now I'm offering free soulful strategy sessions. And these are a deep conversation about your business and you to figure out what are the next steps moving forward to help you feel truly aligned and do like... figuring out those activities that are gonna bring you the most results for the amount of time that you have. So it's a mix of strategy and self-care, talk, nervous system talk, and also looking at your human design or your enneagram and how that can be incorporated into your plan. And you can, yeah, you can sign up for that on my website at servicewithsoul.co. Okay, awesome. We'll put that in the show notes. And then where can everyone find you online? Yeah, my Instagram is the best place that is service with soul as well. I do have a sub stack and a threads that I show up on sometimes. So if you're into those, you can find me there. Okay, awesome. And is there anything that we didn't cover or you'd like to reiterate to share with my audience today? Yeah, you know, I think that would be that growing a business is one of the most profound personal growth journeys that you can go on. It's a spiritual journey and it's not always easy. So, but that's what we're here for and you know, we're on the road with you and we're in it together. So, yeah. Thank you so much you this has been an amazing episode. Again, we could go on and on and on. But if you want to continue a relationship with Heidi, make sure you connect with her we'll drop everything in the show notes so you can find her there. Make sure you share this episode and tag someone who would also love to hear it as well. We appreciate you listening. We appreciate your reviews. And thank you so much, Heidi for taking the time to share with the audience today. Thank you so much, Crissie. This has been just so wonderful. Thank you.