What Freedom Really Means | Dr. Sara Nelson-Gray | Part 2 | S2E16

In Part 2 of this conversation, Dr. Sara Nelson-Gray explores one of the most important questions facing chiropractors and business owners: how do you create freedom without losing yourself in the process?

IN THIS CONVERSATION, WE COVER

• What freedom really means for chiropractors and business owners
• Leadership and learning to let go of control
• Building trust inside a chiropractic practice
• The relationship between identity and freedom
• Financial freedom and entrepreneurship
• Fear of making difficult decisions
• Visibility and personal branding for chiropractors
• What being publicly vulnerable actually costs
• Authenticity versus performance on social media
• Why perfectionism keeps leaders stuck
• Creating a chiropractic business that supports your life
• Personal growth, faith, and leadership development

Dr. Sara previously joined Beyond Adjustments:

S1 E31: How Heart-Centered Leadership Elevates Your Team (Heartwork Podcast) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-YX47qbGos

S1 E35: From Chronic Illness to Chiropractic CEO | Dr. Sara Nelson Gray’s Powerful Healing Journey https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FinpVB2vPPQ&t=415s

This episode is for chiropractors, clinic owners, entrepreneurs, healthcare professionals, and leaders who want to build stronger teams, grow with intention, create freedom in business, and lead without becoming trapped by control, perfectionism, or fear.

CHAPTERS

00:00 Leadership Requires Letting Go

00:20 Introduction

02:21 What Freedom Really Means

05:00 The Places We Still Don't Feel Free

07:00 Financial Freedom & Business Growth

08:38 Why Mental Health Matters in Leadership

09:02 What Being Publicly Vulnerable Really Costs

10:30 Visibility, Privacy & Personal Branding

11:30 The Hidden Cost of Being Known

12:00 Perfectionism and Social Media

12:50 Authenticity vs Performance

13:40 Why Leaders Avoid Posting Content

14:30 Sharing What Matters Most

15:30 Letting Go of the Need for Approval

16:30 Building Trust in Yourself and Others

18:00 Leadership, Identity & Growth

20:00 The Fear of Difficult Decisions

22:00 Freedom Through Responsibility

24:00 Trust, Faith & Entrepreneurship

25:30 Creating a Life You Actually Want

27:00 Living Free

📍 CONNECT WITH DR. SARA NELSON-GRAY

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drsaranelsongray

Freedom Chiropractic: https://www.freedomchirotn.com

🎙️ Listen to The Heartwork Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HeartworkPodcast

🎙️ BEYOND ADJUSTMENTS PODCAST

Presented by Cyber Adjustment

🚀 BROUGHT TO YOU BY AI LOCAL BOOST

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🎧 PRODUCED BY CLEAR-CUT PODCASTING

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

If you are leading people and you are wanting to grow your business, you need to learn what it's like to actually loosen control. And also to trust your people, but then also invite them to do the same thing with what they're doing in their world. That's leadership all day long. It's like if you're doing it for yourself, how do you also teach your people to do the same thing?

SPEAKER_01 0:19

Welcome back. This is part two of my conversation with Dr. Sarah Nelson Gray of Freedom Chiropractic. If you miss part one, go back and start there. I'll wait. No, no, no, I'm seriously gonna wait. I told you. I told you. Anyway, she opened that episode with something raw that set the tone for everything that followed. Part one is the foundation, so if you really didn't catch it, I think you should. This is where we build. In this episode, we get into what freedom actually means to Dr. Sarah right now, including the areas she admitted she does not feel free yet. Yep, we got real, y'all. So we talk about what being publicly vulnerable costs you, the side of leadership that never makes it onto a conference slide, and the one thing she said you have to let go of if you want to actually grow. Her answer was one word and it stopped me. Also, yes, this is still a chiropractic show, but I may have mentioned in here that we're bringing some mental health voices and some coaches onto beyond adjustments kind of more often. The nervous system, the mind, the mission, it all connects. You'll see what I mean. But before we go, quick shout out to Clear Cut Podcasting and my producer, Chris. Chris, you're the man, dude. Uh Chris is the reason this three-part series actually exists as an actual, watchable, listenable thing, not just a raw file I forgot to label correctly. He takes everything I record and makes it look like and sound like a real production. Chris and team, I love you guys. Seriously. If you're editing this right now, thank you. And yes, I know I said um too many times, but I do appreciate you. Let's get into part two. I love that you said uh your kind of your motto or how you live is live free. I um actually listen to Pastor Josh Howerton from Lake Point Church all the time. He has a uh podcast called Live Free, I believe. Yeah, it is called Live Free.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

That's cool.

SPEAKER_01 2:38

Um yeah, yeah, yeah. It's really cool. You guys gotta go check it out. Good good stuff. Um, but I I love the live free. I would even call that a sentence. I know I I know it's two words, but it's it packs so much uh within that because freedom just in and of itself can mean so many things. Like you said, freedom from bondage, you know, freedom from from from our thoughts, freedom from what we think the person in front of us is thinking about us, like like all these things can mean freedom or need freedom. What does freedom mean to you now though, Dr. Sarah? Like if you were naming it today, would it still be called freedom?

SPEAKER_00 3:19

Oh, 100%. That word is just so powerful at the end of the day. Like like you said, and it it represents so many facets. And like I have gone through this exercise myself, but also at the end of the day, the my coach does this for so many other clients, and he works through what we call like there's nine false selves essentially. And a lot of times people will look at them as like people pleasers or caretakers, those types of things. But and when I when you were saying like live free for even like how people see you or all that, like it truly is the perspective of like living free from these like false versions of ourselves. And I think even like when people walk into a chiropractic office, their version of themselves is literally typically hidden by this or massed by this version of pain or masked by some version of a symptom. And they're not living their true authentic life. Like they're not living a free life in that space, in the subluxated space. And so to be able to actually facilitate that, not only from an adjustment standpoint, to free that subluxation, to allow that nervous system actually function and breathe and live and change the chemistry, the DNA of that human being, like that itself has the potential of literally changing the facet of their whole freaking again, DNA, but how they see themselves and how they operate around other human beings. Um and so yeah, I would definitely, I don't think freedom will ever. I'm really grateful that was the word that came to me because sometimes it's just like you see other chiropractors like and other other sophices and stuff like that. I'm like, it's just a really strong, powerful word at the end of the day. And it's not doesn't need to be a pl doesn't mean that it can't be a political word, but at the same time, it's not definitely for me on the side of a political word at the same time.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

So sure. No, that makes sense. I'm gonna ask you a question. You don't have to answer it. Um, because this could or maybe answer it lightly. Up to you. But are there any areas, right? So we're talking about freedom, right? But are there because I know I have some, I'm not gonna share them today, but are there any areas in your life right now where uh you don't actually feel free?

SPEAKER_00 5:21

Yeah, totally. Yes. I feel like there's a decision that I am not making in my life because I'm afraid that if I do it, I'm going to lose some friendships that I feel like I've at the end of the day paid for some friendships because I'm a part of an organization that I absolutely love and adore. However, when you again create some again, you you choose to do things, but also at the end of the day, it creates fruit in your life. And so if you decide to remove yourself from something, even though it may be the best thing that you could be could ever do for your life, there's this like fear of missing out on something. There's a fear of I'm gonna lose something, even if it may be the thing that is the best decision that you ever could make for yourself. And so, so yeah, I definitely feel like there's something inside of me that's not wanting to release it yet. And so, and I think that's a big part of my ego and it's a big part of my like thing that's breaking from me. So is there a place that I'm not free? Yeah, because I'm not actually making the choice. I don't think it's necessarily about the choice, because I do think that when we look at like how we see ourselves and how we potentially how we view God sees us, sometimes it's based on if we make the right or wrong decision. I don't think that's always the case. And because I mean, I know that's not the case, because no matter what you choose, God literally will love you no matter what. However, and he is always so gracious with the timing. I don't think there's ever a place of timing, but I do think that there's potential in that. So that's one of the things I feel like I've been wrestling with a lot of like, am I missing my potential by not making this choice, but also at the same time, why am I not making this choice? So so that's uh definitely a place of constriction a little bit for me. And then I'll, I mean, I'll be also on this in business. I think sometimes in just business, like there's this reality. We have this perception that we want to have financial freedom in a lot of ways, and we want abundance in a ways that again may be a perception that other people put on, but also we just have healthy metrics with the business. And so there are still some facets with my my business that I feel like I don't have freedom there. And I have this financial identity around still, and I am I feel very trusting and I do feel like God's gonna provide, but it's kind of like the timeline of how he's gonna provide is I would rather that be right now versus wherever that lands. So the control aspect of myself is still there for sure. And so um so are there rhythms of my 100% my heart that are way freer than they ever have been, 100%, but they're places that are still getting worked out, you know, and getting processed out and really working through, those are definitely there are still, and I'm sure there are more, but those are definitely two examples of that for sure.

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Yeah, I love that. Um, I feel like though, I I I think if we were like on a live TV show right now, or like a live, I I I would have to say something like, for those of you that are tuning in right now, yes, you are in a chiropractic podcast or show it still is guys, but this is it. This is, I mean, it's all connected. Um, in fact, I'm starting to kind of noodle on bringing in the mental health um industry as well to the show because I feel like it just the nervous system, mental health, it just goes hand in hand. Uh so you'll probably see more of that. But okay, so so much heavy stuff. I can't I can't, but okay, so I want to pivot um to something that kind of goes hand in hand uh with freedom, which is visibility, right? Because uh you're not just you know, you're not just running a practice, yeah, you're out there, right? Podcast, uh, Instagram, I'm sure speaking into, you know, space uh publicly. Um but I want to ask uh about that part of of that that kind of nobody puts on highlight reels, I guess, or maybe they are starting to, but what has being publicly vulnerable actually cost you?

SPEAKER_00 9:16

I think the thing, at least for the I think putting myself out publicly publicly is literally sometimes the scariest thing out there. And also for my freedom business, it's like one of the easiest things. That's so crazy to say that. But like when this when it comes to like sharing my like health journey and my health stuff, that part's been really easy to do just because it's been a part of my story for a really long time. I think the thing just in the chiropractic side of it, it's really interesting to put yourself out there and see patients out in town. So, like some of like the privacy when it comes to creating in your world, that is something when it when you use the word cost you, like I still have my privacy. I'm still a very like private person in a lot of ways. And I choose very much what I put in social media and what to protect at the same time. However, there is that space a little bit, like if you I literally can go, Knoxville is a big city, but it is so much of a small town feel. So I can go anywhere and I will run into somebody. And so, um, so there is this like place of natural, like, I love it, but also privacy part of it's there. And also like the room, my husband, if he's with me, like he has to be a part of the rhythm of people knowing me and being more of the center of attention. And he's had to work through that old whole journey as well. I brought him to a chiropractic like business conference um this past year. And I'm one of these people I walk into a room and I'm an extrovert. I like to talk. I want to be a part of people's stories and I want to share my story. And he's a little bit more on the introverted side. So, like that itself, like when you're talking about like costing something, it's been a real, it hasn't costed my relationship, but it's allowed us to really go to places that are saying, like, hey, how can I support you? But also how can at the same time he support me? Because we are both at the same time partners in a relationship at the same time too. So I want to be able to honor whoever he is, but at the same place, he wants to support me and champion me so that I can be the beautiful entrepreneur and the person that I am. So that's one side of it. And then the other side of it, I think so many times when it comes to putting yourself out there, there's this like fear of being vulnerable and fear of having to have it all perfect before you put it out there. It's like it has to look a certain way, it has to feel a certain way, especially if you're putting something out on Instagram. It's like how or TikTok or something like that. It's like it has to be Instagram worthy for you to post it, has the caption, has to be great, all those types of things.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Great shit.

SPEAKER_00 11:43

And um I think the thing for me, what has cost me is my sanity around it. Like I I will actually avoid it instead of actually doing it, because at the same time, it's like it creates, it takes energy from me if it's not coming from an authentic place. And so I have started to really learn. It's like I don't need this to be perfect. I'm just gonna put it out there and learn what actually is meant to be shared for myself. And yes, there can be strategy, yes, there can be things, but at the same time, um, it's not so much about it having to be this picturesque box of a thing that's getting put out for the world to hear. I think one of the I had somebody tell me this is again, is like when you put something out, are you putting it out for people to relate to you or are you putting it out? And then if people relate to you, great. So like we can try to manipulate stuff so that we get response, right? We can manipulate things so that we can get seen and get noticed. And for me, like I want to be able to put stuff out because it actually matters to me, regardless of whatever the response is. That's at least what I'm starting to learn. And so, and so when I was not doing it authentically, it cost me my time, it cost me my sanity. It c it like it literally, like because you're doing it from a place of an authentic space. And so it took so much time to figure out captions, took so much time to like edit a video. So, like there's ways that obviously you can do it so much better now, but I think that's been the biggest thing. And then ultimately people just see your life, you know. Like I put a story out. If you go back to my social media and you see something like probably, I guess probably three weeks ago, you'll see something that was also, I haven't shared this on a lot of podcasts, but you'll hear about another family trauma. And there's the potential of people taking pity on you. I think there's this like for me, it was me posting it out of transformation because it's something that I have healed through. I haven't posted about it yet. But at the same time, I'm like, I felt ready to do that. So I think in the side of you can't be afraid of what other people's reactions are gonna be, whether they look at you one way, they find they don't like what you have to say, the people may not agree with you. On our um Freedom page, we get so many trolls that come through to tell us that chiropractic is not a thing and that you guys are evil and all these craziness all the time. So there's a reality of you gotta be okay with regardless of what other people think, you're putting out what you know to be put putting out to be true.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

So yeah, yeah. Um yeah, I definitely get those um more on TikTok than anywhere else.

SPEAKER_00 14:16

Yeah, TikTok is crazy.

SPEAKER_01 14:18

Oh my god. Um I I don't think I've posted there in a while, but so yeah, the the whole public vulnerability thing is really a thing. Like, so I'm I'm actually on the worship team at my church and we're growing, we're getting larger. We just moved into a space that holds like 1200 people, etc. So like I'm on stage and people see me, and I'm all the time like I'm in the supermarket. Don't you go to Life Point? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I uh so like it started to click. Like I almost have to watch what I what I do almost, it's it's the it's the weirdest thing. But I'll give you an example. I went to um a um a concert the other day, Phil Wickham concert, and I'm sitting in like nosebleeds, okay? And literally, I kid you not, the people in front of me and like to my left, like two seats over, turn around. I mean, what are the odds? Like I'm in a this ginormous stadium, like it's a basketball stadium or eye soccer, whatever they do there. Uh you could tell I watch sports. Um, but literally sitting right in front of me, hey, you go to LifeWay. I'm like, yeah, hi, you know, kind of um, so not that I act a fool when I'm in public, but it's like now it's just a reality of you know, I I represent not only myself, I represent my family. And first and foremost, I represent God, right? And how we should be living out in public. So, so it it's a thing, right? Um, but have you kind of ever felt that pressure, like to be the person you presented publicly, even on days when you were not that person at all?

SPEAKER_00 15:57

Totally. I mean, when you were saying that, I was literally um, so we have a high volume practice, and so we see a lot of people on a weekly basis. And when I first opened my practice, I was, I would obviously, it was me for the first two years too. So it was I knew everybody's names. I literally could look at somebody's like that weird to say this, but backside and know who they were, right? So it's like because they're laying face down and I just know their body and all that type of stuff, and I would go out and down and I could-actually. It is very weird.

SPEAKER_01 16:26

Like I know them. Are you sure? Yes, I know them.

SPEAKER_00 16:30

So weird. I can literally walk into a room and know who they are just how they're laying there. It's crazy. But I would go into out into town, and for a while I was really good. I would remember people's names. And also now, as I've like, as my business has grown, I'm not always the one that's doing the patient care. I'm doing a lot more of the CEO stuff. So, but I still I still know people's faces. I just don't know everybody's names as well. And that has been really interesting for me because it's like, for one, and I the especially when I opened up, I had I cared more about what I looked like. I would make sure that I had makeup on every single time I went out into town. I looked nice, I dress nice for the sake of like, yeah, right. Um, because it was like you're saying, like you're putting, you're holding yourself in a professional state and and space. Like I want to be seen as a doctor and I want to be seen as a professional. And while that was also like, I mean, at the end of the day, like I still am a human being, even though I am, yes, holding a space of authority within a healthcare setting. It doesn't mean that I still can't go to a farmer's market without makeup on, you know, if I don't want to, right? So it's like, so I think the place of vulnerability is also knowing that we can still be a human being in that. And I think it also can be a little bit more relatable versus just this like putting myself all put together and keep myself all professional, boxed in. Um, but one was I was laughing as you were saying that, because now as I've not been in patient care, I've literally I will see people and my biggest like fear is that I will not know who they are and I don't know their name. And uh my husband and I have this agreement. It was like, if I don't introduce you, you need to introduce yourself and ask what their name is so that I remember what their name is.

SPEAKER_01 18:10

And so that's awesome. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:11

So they take that.

unknown 18:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:13

Like it's because it is like, especially if you're like on more shit, like it's not like you probably probably know so many beautiful people, like and you know their names, but at the same time, like out of the setting that you know them, like that just could be a little funny. Hey, hey you I know a lot about you, but I cannot think of your name right now, and I don't want to be that ass that's like what's your name? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I've literally been taking care of you for years. Like, what's your name? So yeah, it's kind of wild. So that part has been funny, but also, yes, trying to trying to live your life, but also know that you still, like you said, you hold you hold space as an authority figure in some no matter the area that you are, for sure.

SPEAKER_01 18:53

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unknown 21:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 21:59

So I I think like I feel like I was way more open in the beginning, especially with like freedom with how I well, I wasn't saying open, but I was way more like known in the public when I first opened my business. I still am, but now it's more freedom, is the like brand that people know is just my business. So I am pretty like I get we get obviously with any patient that comes through, like we get clearance of like what we protect, right? So I'm not just gonna post somebody or some kids because I feel like nowadays, even more so, like parents care whether we they may or they may not care, but you need to know that ahead of time, whether you're actually posting things because we do post a lot of patient stuff at the same time. So obviously that's something that I cared about way early, but I also still care about now. We're really, I do care kind of about what I post, like financial aspects of things. I post, I'm not gonna just like talk about all the things that I'm going through in my life. I'm not gonna post about the the struggles and the the things in my household that are private. Like that's just not something that my community needs to know. I'm not gonna post about what my associate doctors are also going through in their intimacy um facet of their livelihoods and sure, um, that type of thing. Um, there may be settings like when I coach other chiropractic clients, there may be settings where I'm sharing financial contracts or sharing stuff like that, but I'm not doing that in a public setting when I'm sharing about my business, right? So there are facets of that. Obviously, we're very protective of clientele information. And and then I think like my other just for my relationship in general, my husband is is not, he doesn't care that he that I post anything about our family or we talk about our family. But one of the things that I think that he's been really good for me is he's like, are you actually doing it from an authentic place or are you just trying to be seen? And so that is something that I've really tried to protect is this reality of like, what's the what's the reason behind sharing it, especially if it's coming from my personal brand? My business is very business focused and obviously very chiropractic focused and stories and testimonies and education and all of that. And yes, infused a little bit with my personal life, but my personal brand is still tied to freedom. So, like freedom influences my personal brand and I influence freedom. But that also means that I do share about my family sometimes. I do share about certain things, and so we've had to have conversations basically based about like what he is comfortable with me sharing for just the reality of he is a partner in this at the same time. So of course, and he is not as much of a public person as I am, so he's a little bit more private to that space. So yeah. Um so yeah, navigating all that just gets to be a fun, fun rhythm. And also, like I have dreams to have more influence when it comes to actually like in more impact when it comes to doing some coaching side of it to where it's more on the personal brand of stuff, so it's more of an online setting. So that'll be interesting. I'll be curious to see how that goes because it will include, you know, facets of my family, include facets of my business that aren't necessarily on the day-to-day part of the business, but it gets pulled into influence and impact other other human beings as they're navigating their own world. So it'll be curious to see how that goes for sure.

SPEAKER_01 25:14

Yeah, yeah, no, I love that. And totally there. Like I everything you you're saying, I'm just literally connecting with. And uh all right. I mean, I I want to talk about leadership. I think we can literally keep talking about self and and and self-awareness and kind of growing and changing and freedom. I mean, we could talk about it for hours. Um, but I do want to shift gears a little bit, Dr. Sarah. I I want to talk about the leadership aspect. I want to talk or I I I want to come at it a a little differently uh than we did kind of the first time you were on. Um that conversation with you and Dr. Marisa, which was awesome. And if you guys haven't watched it or or heard it, you need to bounce back. But it was about kind of leading with the with with heart and uh building culture, right? Great conversations, loved it. But today I want to ask about what leadership actually costs, not not the version that looks good on a slide, right? The real version. What is the heaviest part of being the one who holds the vision for your practice?

SPEAKER_00 26:27

That I mean, literally the heaviest part is that you are the one that has to hold the vision of your practice and your business and your mission. It's kind of crazy. Like you are the one that literally makes every decision. You are the one that goes to bed thinking about your business. I was literally up from 3 a.m. to 4 30 last night thinking about things because we are in a transition with our business with some people going on maternity leave and all this type of stuff. And so, and I'm like, we it's all figured out, but it's wild how like your brain sometimes just won't shut off and you're like thinking about all the different scenarios sometimes. And so it's like you're the one that literally owns all of it. You're the one that holds it. Doesn't mean that you can't have a freaking badass organization that will hold it just as much as you will, but they still don't necessarily have the responsibility. If the business goes out or you sell your business or it goes bankrupt, that's your responsibility. It falls back on you. So that itself, like, talk about just like, I mean, that's just it's the the reality of it. If you're an entrepreneur, like it lays on you and it falls on you. And that can feel heavy. And I know that like a lot of my clients, like that is one of the, it's like one of the biggest things in why we then try to do so much, we perform so much to make sure that we are holding on so tightly to make sure that it doesn't fail, or we make sure that that everybody is taken care of. I mean, obviously with any entrepreneurship, there's a financial aspect to it, to where it's like, not only are you the one paying the bills, but if you have the opportunity to have a team, you have a payroll, you have opportunity to yes, influence their livelihood and what they choose to do. You're not responsible for how they work with their money. You're not responsible for their budgets or how they use their money. Um, however, that paycheck is influencing that family's livelihood at the end of the day. It's a beautiful gift and also a responsibility at the same time. And that it, you know, it's definitely not an easy thing sometimes. I especially when I when I first opened my business, that weighed on me way more than it does now because I cared more because I wanted to make sure everybody was being taken care of. But in turn, everybody, I was I cared more about everybody being taken care of versus myself being taken care of. And so I was compromising pieces of myself to make sure everything else was taken and was running smoothly versus it be something that I just I could I I could know that I'm literally operating a beautiful business. At the end of the day, yes, I have decisions to make, but I also people in my team that are gonna help me make those decisions. And at the end of the day, yes, they're getting a paycheck, but it's their job to be a steward of that money. You know, it's not my job to figure that out. I get to be the steward of the money that comes through my business. Yeah. While at the same time, that's and that's not their job. That's my job, you know.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

So Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

It's very nuanced. It's not uneasy. That's there's there's so many layers to that for sure.

SPEAKER_01 29:14

A hundred percent. I'm I'm with you there. I I always like hearing when people say, you know, I want to start a business. I I'm I'm an entrepreneur. I I wanna I want people working for me. I want y'all.

SPEAKER_00 29:28

It's yeah, it's okay.

SPEAKER_01 29:29

It ain't easy. It ain't easy. Um I, you know, I was always, you know, I was in the corporate world for a long time, and I was always like, you know, I I had this itch, like I needed to run my own business, which I am now successfully, thankfully. But but it ain't easy, y'all. When you have, you know, people that depend on you and I'm with you there. And that kind of leads me to this next question, because because people depend on you in leadership, how do you lead when you're not a hundred percent?

SPEAKER_00 30:01

Hmm. Well, I've learned the difference between again how much to share and where to share. So I typically am okay being a little bit more vulnerable. Like again, this in, for instance, this past like four weeks, right? So it's like literally, I couldn't lead, you know, but I also have done my job to lead my team and be so brilliant to be the point to where they are self-sustaining and also leaders themselves, so that it doesn't require me to be everything to everybody. They actually own their job and their own own their position to be able to, again, successfully sustain a business. And so, so there is like a vulnerability aspect, but like there are times where I'm not sharing everything. Like I my team didn't know everything that was happening with me, my clinical director did, but I chose not to tell everybody because I also didn't know just for an example of what everything was happening just this past like four weeks, is I didn't really know all the facets of it. So I wasn't sharing in the middle of it. I eventually did. But at the end of the day, like sometimes you're learning like what it's like to lead vulnerably, but sharing pieces so that you're not oversharing, you're just like bleeding on everybody. I think one of the other, like you said, like when you're not a hundred percent, I I definitely am the type of person I feel like I think a lot of people are like this, especially if you're owners. I feel like I have a little button inside to where it's like the minute I step in that office, I'm like, I'm a I'm I'm go back to my like, I'm here, I'm ready to go, regardless if I'm not on. However, obviously we want to be human at the same time. Sure. Um, but I also understand and know that I'm also one of the ones that holds the temperature of my space. Like if I come in and I have really low energy, why doesn't mean that my team can't lift me up because I do think that that is beautiful and that's healthy at the same time. However, I know that I hold a certain standard. And if I hold the standard, everybody else needs to meet my standard and I hold the temperature of that. And so um, I I hate the phrase like fake it till you make it, because I think you actually will fake it till you break it. And you'll break yourself a lot of times or break something else because you're actually not being true to yourself. Um, there is a rhythm. I mean, I I know for myself, like even I've been still healing, but at the same same time, I'm like, when I show up, like I'm still showing up happy. Like I'm I'm just I'm not the type of person that I also want to complain about shit. Like I'm not just gonna like complain to you and I'm not gonna like life is still brilliant and it's still good.

SPEAKER_01 32:19

So yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

Um that's it definitely is uh can be challenging, especially when you're working with our hu other humans. Maurice and I actually talk about us talking about heartwork and stuff. Like we talk about this a lot because as a as a leader, you want your people to be able to also do that same thing. So like if they're not having a good day, you want them to be able to be a human, but at the same time, I still need them to show up and do the job. Like that's like one of the most challenging things sometimes is like I I know that I don't need to be 150% all the time. However, when I walk in those doors, my job is first and foremost to take care of people. And if I am, I again I can be authentic to them, but at the same time, I have to hold space for them. Like that's the gift that I'm offering, is I get to, I not I don't have to, but I get to hold space for people in their own crap. And I want my team to do the same thing. So they need to figure out and they need to do the work for themselves so that by the time they walk in our doors that they can do the same and they can hold that space as well.

SPEAKER_01 33:22

Yeah, that's good. Is there something that you have to surrender personally, like not just time or money, um, but something more internal, kind of in order to grow your practice you have now?

SPEAKER_00 33:37

Uh control. I actually just was talking to somebody yesterday. That's a big one. Control.

SPEAKER_01 33:46

That's a big one.

SPEAKER_00 33:47

Yeah. And people pleasing, you know, like yeah, control is a big one though. I think everybody can relate to being some type of a control freak and a perfectionist, you know. Um and but yeah, I mean, if you if you want to lead people and if you want to grow your business, your hands on how you control it and what you let go of. Like, I literally don't like it's just so crazy. What if somebody walks into my office, they'd probably be thinking, like, I mean, our office won runs so seamlessly, like it is literally a well-oiled machine. But my understanding of how certain things are done in the office is like, I don't even freaking know anymore. It's so wild because I just don't do it, I'm not in it, doesn't mean that I couldn't figure it out because I will figure it out. But talk about like releasing control. When I first saw my business, like I had I was had to be in all of it, but at the same time, like, hell no. If like if you are leading people and you are wanting to grow your business, you need to learn what it's like to actually loosen control and not expect and also to trust your people, but then also invite them to do the same thing with what they're doing in their world. That's leadership all day long. It's like if you're doing it for yourself, how do you also teach your people to do the same thing?

SPEAKER_01 35:01

Okay, so someone dared me to do this outro in Gen Z. And I'm a man of my words, so here we go. I'm not proud of this, but I committed. That was part two. No cap, bestie. I needed a whole moment after that leadership section. The 3 a.m. holding the vision thing, living rent-free in my head. Her answer on what she had is surrender to grow. She ate and left no crumbs. I don't fully know what that means, to be honest with you, but I was told it was a compliment, so I stand by it. But part three, low-key, hit different. We talked about home, not a work-life balance era, not a framework situation, just real human stuff. It is giving very authentic, and I'm here for it. Part three is probably ready, or it's gonna be out next week, but go listen. No cap, period. Alright, the dare is done. I I need to go lie down and probably wash my mouth out. I'll see you guys in part three.