274: How to Grow Through Every Season of Your Business

Melissa Henault:

Alright, burnout to all out gang. Whether you're in a season of wild success or you're in a season of resistance, no matter where you are in the journey, you are going to want to listen in to this segment today. Today was actually a keynote that, I feel really, really passionate about when it comes to the journey that we're on as entrepreneurs and how we can actually embrace resistance. So if you're in a really challenged season in business, maybe you're not hitting your goals, maybe you're continuing to hit the same wall. I really want you to lean into this episode. It's a heartfelt, segment that I did at my own burnout to all out live event in Austin, Texas. Take notes. DM me after you listen.

Melissa Henault:

Let me know what resonated with you.

Melissa Henault:

My goodness. Thank you so much. Down. The whole crowd goes So, Preston, you really teed us up really well for this segment. We're gonna talk about embracing the journey. We've been talking a lot about I love what Preston said about how we're all in different seasons. Right? And that's a lot of what we're gonna talk about here today, in this segment. You guys know I like to keep it raw, keep it real.

Melissa Henault:

Right? So how many of you are experiencing let me know. One of the best effing years ever in business. Let me hear you. Let me hear you. Yes, louder, louder. That's amazing. Now, how many of you feel like you've just had the shit kicked out of you this year? Okay? How many of you are in one of those seasons where you're in the middle of getting a lesson, or what I like to call a blessing, right? Maybe you feel like you've had your fair share of challenges this year. Right? The thing is, what if I told you that both seasons are incredible gifts? Am I right? Okay.

Melissa Henault:

So the thing is, when you're on top of the world with all my friends who are like, Yeah, this is the best year. Just incredible. When you're on top of the world, it's easy to see the feedback, the good positive feedback that the universe is giving us about our actions. Is it not? It's pretty clear, right? When you're up on a mountaintop, you can see. Right? You're at the peak, and you can see. Right? When you're hitting your goals, you feel like you can see. You're getting that reward, right, through the actions that you're taking. But here's the reality, and this is where, you know, Preston's segment earlier, and you guys really hearing from each other, all of us in different seasons.

Melissa Henault:

The reality is that mountains don't continue forever at the mountain top, do they not? Right? At some point, the peak stops. Right? At some point, the peak stops. So what do we do in the midst of the inevitable? This takes me back to when I first kicked off, when, my my makeup artist, Stephanie, had asked, what does it take to be a successful entrepreneur? It takes resiliency. We're not always living on mountain peaks, are we? Right? And we celebrate with gratitude when we are on the mountain peaks, but they're not always here. So my goal today is we're gonna go through a couple of things. I wanna help you embrace the journey that you're on, no matter what season you are in the moment of entrepreneurship. And no matter how big or small your business is, you will still hit new seasons with it. Right? I also want you to see the value of both mountain tops, valleys, and everything in between.

Melissa Henault:

And we're gonna give you some survival tips to keep you healthy and strong as you hike from peak to peak. How does that sound? You guys up for it? Okay. After lunch, did anybody have any Margaritas? I hope not. Did anybody have any alcohol? I get you guys right after lunch. So, the human experience, right, this is what we're gonna be talking about. Whether it's today, it's tomorrow, or next year, life is messy. Challenges come our way. We can't avoid resistance, and I want you to hear this.

Melissa Henault:

We can't avoid resistance if we're pushing the edges of unknown. Am I right? Okay. It's the skills to navigate this space that allow us to truly, truly thrive, right, and become that resilient, successful entrepreneur. So I love this quote by Winston Churchill. Success is not final, failure is not fatal. It's the courage to continue that counts. Right? So let's look at you guys know I love to just give my own personal examples. Let's look from the outside in.

Melissa Henault:

This year has been a challenging year for me. Right? I was here last year on a mountain peak, on a rocket ship. We grew 380%. Right? We did 3,800,000 in revenue. Right? Right up to the top of that mountain peak. Right? How many of you guys have heard me proclaim all year, we're gonna do a $1,000,000 launch? Who's heard me say that? We're gonna do a $1,000,000 in revenue in 9 days. Has it happened? No. Have I failed? So let's talk about that.

Melissa Henault:

Right? Now let's look at the flip side of this. Right? Like I said, we grew at that 380%. What I want to point out do you see those mountain peaks? What I want to point out is that last year on this stage, you see that first mountain peak to the right? Right? We hit the we got to the top of that mountain peak, that first mountain peak. And we were like, fuck yeah, we did 3,800,000. I can see the top of the next mountain. We're gonna go for 6. It's easy to see it from that one mountain peak, is it not? But what I didn't see was that it wasn't a straight shot to the top of the next mountain peak, was it? Did I have to go actually down and then go up in order to get to the next peak? But from my vantage point, before I started my journey, it looked really simple to get there. You guys resonating with me? Okay, cool.

Melissa Henault:

So growth to the next summit. Right? When we're in the midst, when I talk about that mountain peak that I could see from this peak to that, I'm like, we got it, I can see it, let's go. And the moment I get going, what's the first thing I have to do? Go down. Sometimes we have to go down and sideways to go up. Right? And in those moments, it you can start to feel self doubt. Can you not? Start to question yourself. Start to question if you're making the right choices. There's disappointment, there's discouragement, a sense of failure, and this is what makes the difference.

Melissa Henault:

We were just talking about this over lunch with Preston, where people have these moments in life, these moments in business, where they fail and they have a choice. It's a perceived failure. We're gonna talk about this. It's not actually. Spoiler alert. But there's moments in life where you choose. That's it. I failed and I'm done.

Melissa Henault:

I'm a loser and I'm not gonna try anymore. Or the flip side is to take a look at the lessons and the blessings and forge forward, which is what we're gonna talk about today. Right? So with that, what if I told you you're not actually failing? Right? What if I told you you're not actually failing, and you're actually not sliding back down the mountain when you have perceived setbacks. How many of you have already told yourself that crappy story this year that raised your hand and said you're having a bad year? How many of you have told yourself you're sliding backwards? Okay. Be honest. How many of you have told yourself, I'm sliding, I'm falling from where I was? How many of you guys have felt that way? Okay. Yes. Be honest.

Melissa Henault:

Right? What if I told you you're not actually failing? What if you're actually conditioning to be molded and prepped for the future? What if you just don't yet have all the information, and you don't have all the skills yet, or the nervous system with the capacity to hold what you are consciously calling in. Right? Okay? So, you need time to create that capacity to hold. I don't have the mountain top here, but now you guys see it. When I'm standing on that one peak, and I can see the other one, right, I'm thinking, I can just jump from here to there. Right? Not recognizing the work that needs to be done structurally within my company, within my own nervous system, systematically to get to the place that I am calling my next goal. Does this make sense? Okay. So it's not life's events that are causing your problems or your stress. Okay? It's your resistance to life's events that is causing you to be uncomfortable.

Melissa Henault:

It's your resistance to these events. Okay? How many of you have had scenarios where you're like, this wasn't supposed to happen? Right? You're like, this was not supposed do you know how much energy you are leaking and wasting on a scenario that you think you already decided in your mind, in your head, it wasn't supposed to happen. Motherfucker, it happened. Right? And it's actually happening for you. You just don't see the lesson and the blessings in how you're being sculpted in order to hold what you are calling in. Right? It's your resistance to it. Okay? So the problem is caused by using your will to resist reality of life passing through you. Right? And many of us have different beliefs, spiritually.

Melissa Henault:

I truly believe that I am destined for a journey. And I'm being taken on a path that's sculpting me and preparing me for each level of growth. And as much as I can hit resistance in certain phases in business and phases in life, when we can And I heard Preston talk about this earlier. When we can just accept at face value, what is happening to us is happening for us no matter what, bottom line, point blank, it's happening. And how can you move with it instead of resist it? Right? I have a really great example when it comes to kids. Okay? The week and a half leading up to this event, I had so much time cleared out of my calendar to prepare for this. Right? It's all scheduled. And guess what happened? 1 of my 3 kids was sick every single one of those days while my husband was out of town.

Melissa Henault:

Okay? Jake finally got home, and it was my last day to be able to work on this event. I had the whole Friday blocked out. My son, 7, standing barefoot on a soccer ball, 2 minutes before I was able to get him on the bus and get him out of the house. He turned sideways, busts his knee, not just on the door, but at the very bottom of the door with a little piece of plastic about this big that went straight into his knee, and he began to scream, I need stitches. I look, and I'm like, he needs stitches. What immediately went into my head when we talk about resistance? This wasn't supposed to happen. Did I get pissed? Here's the funny thing. This is the lecture I was supposed to work on.

Melissa Henault:

It was like God saying, boom. Right? As I'm driving to the emergency room, all I could think I caught myself this is what and I was like, this was supposed to happen motherfucker. This is like it did. Right? So embrace it. Slow down. There's a This is this is happening for me. Stop resisting. The solution is to stop resisting what comes our way, whether it's what we anticipated, or what we planned, or what we didn't plan.

Melissa Henault:

Because many times, I will say most times, it's the things I don't plan that change me. Right? Okay. So Oh, I pushed a firecracker button instead of Okay. Here we go. So let's look at my perceived failure from a different perspective. I'm going to do an exercise with you guys in a little bit. I haven't hit my $1,000,000 month yet. However, let's look at the coin from a different side.

Melissa Henault:

Coins actually have 3 sides. They've got the top and the bottom, and you can turn the coin sideways, and there's, like, the skinny part. Right? But the reality is when we look at it from a sense of gratitude, 80% of small businesses fail in the 1st 4 months of being in business. Right? Less than 5% of businesses make it to the $1,000,000 a year mark, ever. Right? And this year, we're on track to grow again and do 4, 4, 4 and a half, maybe $5,000,000. So here I am failing forward by missing my arbitrary number that I said as an entrepreneur, and we could get caught in our value and our worth with assigning our value and worth to those numbers. Right? Okay. So, let me move on to my next slide.

Melissa Henault:

It's been a year, so this is what I wanna talk about. We talk about seasons of growth, hypergrowth. We talk about seasons in baseline and plateaus, which we're going to talk about as well, and then reload to take off. Right? And it's been a year of internal growth. It's been a year of conditioning within my nervous system and with the organization of my company to have the capacity to hold what I'm calling in. Does this make sense? It is okay to have a base camp year to prepare for the next ascension. Right? So, I'm still gaining the skills necessary to have that $1,000,000 launch. Right? I'm not a failure.

Melissa Henault:

I'm not assigning If we can deconstruct our ego, right, to the assignment of these arbitrary numbers we assign ourselves. Because you will run yourself ragged as an entrepreneur. I heard you say it too earlier, Preston. Revenue in companies as entrepreneurs, it goes up, it goes down, it goes this way, it goes that way. Right? And the quicker you can pull your self worth away from a single number and value in your business, the better off you are. And this is for the highs and the lows because you can get addicted to the high of the big number. And when you're not hitting that number, your self worth starts to degrade. Right? Is this making sense? Okay.

Melissa Henault:

Okay. And that's this is the thing we talked about during our Mastermind dinner the other day, is the companies go through, and I want you guys to write this down. Companies go through hypergrowth and acceleration. Last year, we went from 1,000,000 to 3,800,000 in revenue in 365 days. This is rapid growth and acceleration. What do companies do during hypergrowth? You hire. You actually hire wide. You bring in as much support as you can.

Melissa Henault:

reload strategy for growth in: 2025

Melissa Henault:

Right? Do you have the resiliency, and the tools, and the vantage point to see your way through to your desired state? Right? To see your way through. And the thing I want you to think about, and I really want this to ring home for you guys, is that entrepreneurship is like scaling a mountain that you've never scaled before. So when we talk about nervous system regulation and the capacity to hold, What you have to understand is that in order to be an entrepreneur, and the definition of being an entrepreneur is to be an uncharted territory. Being a market disruptor, trying and doing new things. What does that mean? Well, at the basic science of it, it means that you're gonna dis regulate your nervous system on a pretty pretty consistent basis. Am I right? Because you're in uncharted territory, and you can start to feel like an impostor. Right? Okay. But the reality is, you're just in an unknown space.

Melissa Henault:

You're just in an unknown space. So how do you get to the top of Mount Everest? Has anybody hiked huge mountains? Has anybody climbed a huge summit? Alright. So Giselle gets this. Do you just go to this top of Mount Everest? Like, one day you're like, I'm going to go to the top of Mount Everest. No. You have to get conditioned first of all, you have to get conditioned along the way at each base camp. You don't just ascend straight to the top of the mountain. Right? Your body physiologically has to grow and adapt in order for you to actually survive in the new climate.

Melissa Henault:

Am I right? Yes. Right? There's headwinds, there's conditions. You have to acclimate to altitude. Like, your body physically changes in order to ascend. Right? So this is how we get to the top, and you have to have the right tools. You don't just go to the top of Mount Everest without the right tools. Do you think the tools that got us to 3,800,000 are gonna be the tools that take us to 10? No. Right? Is it unknown territory for me as a CEO? Yes.

Melissa Henault:

Do you think my nervous system gets dysregulated on the daily? Yes. Right? We talked a little bit about this earlier, but the death of who you are for the rebirth of who you're becoming. This is something I wanna talk about. I wanna make sure I didn't okay. Yes. There's an actual physiological cell turnover that has to happen in your body in order to ascend to the summit. We have to be able to create cells that have a different hemoglobin concentration in order to sequester and bring in more oxygen for thinner altitude. Right? I could go way down in a rabbit hole about this, but the bottom line is, physically, the human body dies, cellular tissue dies and replicates and is rebirthed and born in order for this new version of you, as a human, to actually ascend up the mountain.

Melissa Henault:

Are you guys tracking with me on this? It's very similar in your businesses. Okay? We have to actually, if you raise your hand again if you feel like you're in the depths of the shadow of the valley of death in one of the most difficult situations in business right now. Yes, be honest. What if I told you, you are just in the middle of the death of who you were as the leader in that business that has to die before your rebirth and born into the leader to take your business to the next level? And so if you feel like you're in the thick of it, and you feel like it's a death, it is. Celebrate that. Okay? Now, are you conditioned and chiseled enough to hold what you are calling in? This is just kind of a point of reflection. I want you to think about your businesses, think about the goals that you've set out this year, and if you're getting a significant amount of resistance to your goals, you may just be getting chiseled right now. So that you have the capacity to hold what you're calling in.

Melissa Henault:

Right? So when we look out at this mountain range, I also want you to realize, are there more peaks or valleys? Are there more ups or downs? Right? There's everything in between. And the quicker we can come to grips and appreciate that it's the journey, and that it's not always at the top of a mountain peak, the more resilient your baseline is to really run a business. When you can get into that mindset of, shit is going to hit the fan, I just have to be ready to move through it, and get the lessons from it, and move forward. The more we resist when things aren't happening the way we want them to, we actually slow our growth. We procrastinate and slow the evolution of who we need to become by resisting the lesson that we need. Right? And it's like Preston said earlier, if it starts with a tap, and then it's a push, right, this resistance can just get heavier and heavier and louder and louder till it's a 2 by 4. And you have to listen to the growth that needs to happen in order for you to hold what you're calling in. Right? And another thing, for those of you who feel like you're totally sliding backwards, Sam and I have talked about this in our one on ones.

Melissa Henault:

Right? For those of you who feel like you are in the cycle of shit, and you are absolutely falling down the mountain right now. Right? Humor me this. Don't assume you're sliding backwards. I want you to think about the energy it takes to actually climb the next mountain peak. So if you feel like you're getting a tremendous amount of resistance in your business right now, if you feel like you're up against a ton of headwinds, and you feel like you're failing, I want you to flip that coin on the other side. And humor me this, what if you're not falling at all? Is it actually think about this sliding down versus ascending? Which one takes more energy? Which one takes more energy? Ascending. Climbing the mountain peak takes more energy, more resistance, more tools, and more strategy. So if you're feeling a significant amount of resistance right now, can we shift the mindset? Can you shift the thought process that I'm not failing, I'm not sliding, I'm being molded.

Melissa Henault:

I am growing. I am evolving to have the capacity to hold what I am calling in. Right? And I just said that. What if the resistance you feel today is because you've left 1 mountain peak? You've outgrown that space. And now, it's time to get uncomfortable, take on the headwinds and the resistance, and ascend to another. Because we can only sit at a mountain peak for so long. Right? So what if instead of why me, you could be curious about the lessons thrown your way to prepare you. And this is something Sam and I have talked about multiple times.

Melissa Henault:

The lesson will continue to come. If you're getting the same resistance over and over again, you haven't learned the lesson yet. Right? So, what if instead of why me, you could be curious about those lessons, that they're there to prepare you for your growth. You just have to realize that life is giving you a gift. And I know that for some of you who are in the absolute thick of it, and you feel like you're in the middle of a death, you're looking at me saying, this is not a gift. This is not a gift at all. Right? I've been there in more iterations than you can even imagine. Right? But that gift, and I love this statement, the gift is the flow of events that takes place between your birth and your death.

Melissa Henault:

These events are exciting, but they're also challenging, and they create tremendous growth. And when I look back on some of the biggest challenges in my life, in the midst of it, they were felt horrible, and I felt like it was the end of the world. And in reflection, they were massive, massive breakthroughs for me. Right? It was a death, a physical death to evolve. So, I love a couple of these definitions. When we talk about a piercing look at gifts, the psychology of these gifts, a piercing look ignores the packaging and sees the gift. So, the packaging, in the middle of failure, cannot feel like a gift at all. But if it's a piercing look through the packaging, there's true gifts there.

Melissa Henault:

We've talked about adversity equating to growth. I know you've heard this, but that which doesn't kill us makes us stronger. How many stories have you already heard of people picking up the mic and talking about some of the darkest spaces in their life that have now grown them to the impactful humans they are today? Right? The extent of the struggle determines the extent of the growth. And the obstacle is the advantage. Write that down. The obstacle is the advantage, not the adversity. Right? And when you're sliding downhill instead of climbing up So we talked about, are you evolving and climbing? But right? If you are having a backward slide, set the expectation that you're not going to live on the mountain peak forever, ever. Whether you're sliding down or climbing another mountain, the reality is, we're just pausing at these certain peaks for a great view before it's time to pack up our bags and move to the next base camp.

Melissa Henault:

Right? And the more that we can make this appreciation for life and resistance and how we're going to continue to have adversity that grows us and embrace it, instead of resist it, we can gracefully move through life and business. And I have the most beautiful video that I wanna show you guys. Let's see. Did I pass the video already? One more. Okay. That's really cool. You guys are gonna love this. Right? So the large majority of our time, we're growing, we're climbing, we're learning.

Melissa Henault:

This peak is just temporary. We saw that there's only so many peaks on the mountain. Everything else is a freaking journey. It's a journey down. It's a journey up. It's a stabilized at base camp. We talk about this in our coaching program. Some of you are in a base camp year, where you're pruning and you're getting reorganizing after hypergrowth, or you've we've talked about base camp years that are reprioritizing your goals.

Melissa Henault:

It may be it's a year where you're like, whew, last year was amazing. We grew really fast. This year, I just wanna level out. I wanna hang at base camp. I'm not ready, physically, or with the tools to go to the next climb, and that's okay. Right? This mindset keeps you from being disappointed. Right? And instead of running from the hard, embracing the hard, embracing it. Right? And so I wanna show this video because it's so beautiful.

Melissa Henault:

Can you dance with the waves instead of resist the waves? So as the waves are coming, are you hitting them head on, Or are you moving with them? One of the most beautiful analogies Sam has given to me this year, in my year of growth, is this vision of, is it seaweed, or it's a lily pad that's attached to the bottom of the ground, to the bottom of the ocean. And although up above, it can feel as though I'm being frantically moved moved around, I'm actually very grounded at the base of the ocean. Right? I'm very grounded, but I'm not resisting the resistance. Does that make sense? I'm embracing the resistance, and moving with the resistance. Really cool scientific study about bees. They did this study where these bees look like they fly erratically. It makes absolutely no sense to the human brain why a bee doesn't fly from here to that flower, even though that's the flower the bee goes to, and instead, the bee is on this wild, erratic flight that takes, like, 12 times the amount of time to get to the flower. Does anybody know why? Because physiologically, physics and aerodynamics, the bee can't beat the wind.

Melissa Henault:

The bee can't beat the wind, but the bee knows its destination. So the bee has to embrace the unknown, unpredictable wind that comes its way and move with it gracefully till it gets to its destination? Can we look at our own journeys in business this way? Right? Make sense? I love this wave video. So to effectively handle the flow of life and business, your heart and mind must be open and expansive enough to encompass reality. This is reality. This is what's happening. The only reason we're not is because we resist the reality. We're leaking so much energy with the this wasn't supposed to happen. It was.

Melissa Henault:

It did. So how do we reflect on it? We're going to do an exercise on this in just a couple of minutes. So when you learn to embrace the challenge, what used to be stress filled circumstances will begin to actually look like stepping stones towards alignment in your business, and perhaps alignment in your spiritual journey as well. Right? Humor me this. That it's perhaps stepping stones that are necessary for where you're headed. Right? So, don't run from the challenging hike. You're in uncharted territory. You're getting chiseled.

Melissa Henault:

Right? This voyage is absolutely necessary to get to undiscovered lands. We have to be molded to hold what we're calling in. Right? So don't run from this challenge. It's a constant spiral upwards. I already hit on this a second ago, but what I love, and I'm gonna share some examples with you guys in a minute, is that we can run into similar scenarios. I really view my journey as a spiral up, right? But I'm spiraling, and I can run into certain challenges in life and business. And if I reflect on it and gather the lesson I'm supposed to, the next time I see it, I respond to it differently because of what I learned the first time. So humor me this, that that first resistance prepared you for the next time this bigger opportunity gets in front of you.

Melissa Henault:

Right? Is this making sense? Okay. So fear of hard or failing is keeping you from growth. Again, I go back to the original question of getting my makeup done this morning. What is the one thing that makes entrepreneurs different? What makes them successful? The willingness to fail. So many of you are playing small because you're afraid of failing, whether it's because of your own primal brain trying to protect you from failing because it doesn't wanna take care of you when you're disappointed, or because it's the fear of what other people are gonna think or what they're gonna say. But the reality is, the failure is where the growth happens. You're hearing me stand up on stage, nearly 8 months into the year, publicly proclaim, I claimed a $1,000,000 launch this year, and it hasn't happened. And that's okay.

Melissa Henault:

My business is still growing. Right? The quicker you can be okay with failing, the quicker you're actually gonna get the lessons and you fall to fly. You fall to fly. Right? So, do something different today. Embrace challenge. Embrace challenge with curiosity. Embrace challenge as if you're climbing, and as if they're gifts to prepare you for your next ascent. I wanna give you guys some examples myself, and then you guys are gonna run through a workshop.

Melissa Henault:

elissa say? We're going for a: 100000

Melissa Henault:

Right? And through a series of events we'll get into, we did half the revenue goal we planned, and it felt devastating. But you know what it made me do? When things don't go the way you planned, that's when you're willing to think differently. Right? It's the only way you think radically differently. And the reason I'm bringing this up is that moment in January, I'll never forget sitting in a hotel room with my journal and saying, I need to reflect on every moment in my career as an entrepreneur that I felt like I was failing. And I want to journal it and reflect on what was the output. When I was in the moments of the depths of the shadow of the dark, ugly girl cry, bathroom floor, snotty, the world is gonna end, I'm going to write down every single one of those right now. And now, I'm going to go back and reflect on how it changed me, and how it was actually a blessing. This exercise was life changing for me and my vision this year, and I want to bring it to you.

Melissa Henault:

Example number 1. 10 years ago, Corporate America, director in big pharma. Melissa, congratulations. You still have a job, but we've consolidated the entire division from 12 directors to 2. And now, you're gonna have to be on a plane 4 days a week and never see your kids. I know Jake remembers that. It was terrifying because I felt like the rug had been ripped out from under me and I had no choice. I felt like I had totally lost control.

Melissa Henault:

But guess what happened? When I felt like I totally lost control, what did I do? I started to think radically different. And I thought, maybe I should start something on the side. That turned into a side gig that matched my corporate income that got me out of corporate America in 19 months. So in the middle of the depths of the shadow of the dark, when I felt like that rug was being ripped out from under me, I was metaphorically and physically dying to be rebirthed, to come out a different person. And the death had to happen. I never would have thought that way if I hadn't been pushed into a corner and forced to think radically different because I felt like I was failing. So when you feel like you're failing, reframe that. There is a lesson happening for you right now.

Melissa Henault:

t business that I built was a: 1099

Melissa Henault:

And for that moment, I felt again, and I know Jake remembers this, I had to make a decision between keeping that income with the network marketing company, or owning my own brand. And I remember being out in my backyard on a phone call with Preston on a Saturday in tears, trying to figure this out. And he was like, you are bigger than this. This is a blanket. It served you for a time and you're grabbing a hold of it out of fear when you can be so much bigger. And when I felt like the world was coming to an end and I walked away from that company and completely let go of my income, I know Jake was like, are you sure you want to do that right now? I remember. He was like, It felt like a death. Let me tell you, it felt like a death.

Melissa Henault:

What happened after that? Here I am today. Right? So I can go on and on and on. Actually, I love this statement. The wound is where the light comes in. The wound is where the light comes in. Let me give you 2 or 3 more because I know you guys need some examples because you're about to do this yourself. Okay? Jackie, remember when my where is Jackie? She's like she's out. Okay.

Melissa Henault:

2020, is Danae in here? Yep. Well, this was before you, Danae. We'll get to you in a second. My I had just launched my coaching business. I'd made about $20,000. My accounts got hacked. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, PayPal, Shopify, my clients were being sent invoices by hackers who were taking over all of my accounts. And I had a choice.

Melissa Henault:

We talk about those pivotal moments where you curl up in a ball, and you say, I tried, or you pull up your big girl panties. And for a day or 2, I really just wanted to hide in a closet, maybe for it was a month long journey to clean that up. I wanted to crawl into a closet with some ice cream and some wine and say, I gave it a bat. I'm just going back to corporate. It was awful. Jay had to take time off with his computer. He would come home from work because we weren't sure where the leak was, and we were trying to reset everything on his work computer that had serious security on it. It was awful.

Melissa Henault:

But guess what? It prepared me to protect the shit out of the empire I have built today. Right? The universe was preparing me. The universe was saying, bitch, get your shit in order. You can't have the same password for everything and that. Months. You guys have all heard this story, but guess what? I'd never run a business of that size. It doesn't matter how much money you make if you don't know your numbers. The money comes in and it flies back out.

Melissa Henault:

And I had Jackie had COVID and was sick in the ICU. We weren't sure if she was going to live. And I didn't know how I was going to pay her. It was awful. Did I feel like I was dying? Yeah. Yeah. I felt like I was dying. That was the week I got COVID and was isolated from my family, except for Walker.

Melissa Henault:

He and I were in a room together by ourselves, and I picked up some Joe Dispenza. And I was like, here we go again, right? In the depths of the shadow of the dark. I truly believe sometimes God, universe, whatever, takes you to these places where there is nowhere else to go but to speak to God. Right? Because that's where the clarity happens. In that perceived failure, I got to work on nervous system regulation. I got to work on the inner work and the mindset and the reprogramming that needed to happen in me so that I could evolve and become the leader that my company needed me to become. So that I could hold what I was calling in instead of dropping it all, because that's what was happening. It was falling through my hands.

Melissa Henault:

So I learned how to do the inner work. It gave me the vision for modern entrepreneur that we run today. I learned how to read a profit and loss. I hired a CFO. Right? It prepared me for where I am today. Right? November of this past year. Talk about feeling like you're dying. I'm on my way home in November no, it was October, from my own mastermind that I'm in.

Melissa Henault:

Jackie calls, and she's like, we have a problem. I'm like, what? And she was like, we got a cease and desist from LinkedIn. What? What? We're about to run ads, and we get the news that LinkedIn is a trademarked label that's another company. I call my business coach, and I'm like, oh my God. And he starts laughing. And he says, I know this sounds really sick, Melissa, but two things. Number 1, congratulations. You've made it big in business when somebody finally wants to sue you.

Melissa Henault:

And number 2, you are so big that one of the top social media companies in the world has identified you and the success you're having, and you're being attacked, and they're making an example out of you. So this is a great journey, and this goes back to some of the lessons with Preston. And this is where Chris and I were like, you're so much bigger than leaned in. Quit hiding behind that word. Rebrand. Right? It was such an incredible journey for us learning the value of organic lead generation again, rebranding ourselves, being bigger and beyond the word LinkedIn. Right? And a lot of crap came up about fear that I didn't realize I hadn't worked through. And a big piece of what was holding me back was not doing the inner work I needed to do as a leader, to have the confidence to take forward action in my business.

Melissa Henault:

Because every time I felt unsafe, the guards would come up, even when it was irrational. And so, I immediately got to work with Sam on past traumas that I've experienced since childhood. And when I tell you it is work to do that, it is work. Like, I mean, Sam knows this. I always have looked forward to my coaching calls with her. But when I also signed up for the trauma work with her, those calls in the calendar, I was like, not looking forward to the work, but knowing that the work was necessary to clear the energetic paths of the fear that was holding me back as a CEO from when I was this big. Right? So many blessings and feeling like it was the end of the world that have created the business owner that I am today. Is this making sense for you guys? Okay.

Melissa Henault:

One last one, because this is fun. We'll end on a high note before it's your turn. So I've been spending all year so this is real time. Like, literally, this just came out of my back pocket, like, 3 days ago. All year, I've been like, $1,000,000 launch, $1,000,000 launch. We're gonna do all I wanted to do is be able to, like, vain. I wanna be able to claim 7 figures in a month. We've gotten so close to it that it's my ego that wants to be able to say it.

Melissa Henault:

Year long, until this week, all year long until this week, sitting with a mentor to say, you know, there's about 5,000,000 inside your business right now. If you could just strategically clients internally and ascending them directly into build, grow, scale. Why are you spending so much time and money going out to the cold market to try to record more cold clients that take a significant amount of time to nurture, a significant amount of potential money in ads. When you're bringing in 100 of people every other month into a program that you can strategically nurture and ascend into build gross scale, much easier, much lower lift. And literally, in 2 days, it was like, holy shit. But here's the reality. Do you know I never would have looked inward on that? Had I not gotten the resistance on the thing I kept trying over and over and over again this year till I got hit in the forehead by a 2 by 4. And I felt like I was failing.

Melissa Henault:

And now all of a sudden, I'm excited because I see this massive opportunity that I never would have seen if I didn't get put into a corner with the thing I thought I needed to be doing to then think radically different. Is this making sense? Man, I'm so hot in this suit. Okay. So now it's your turn. Okay? Oh, and also, let me just say this. It is wildly necessary, as we embark on this journey, that we continue to understand our purpose. These are the tools necessary for the climb. Take a snapshot of this.

Melissa Henault:

Purpose, are you connected to your work in a way that you would go through a brick wall? The shadow work and the inner child work, you guys got a taste of that this morning. I'm not gonna get into a rabbit hole about it right this second, but you know, we have to unravel and look within and not cast blame. We have to take radical responsibility for these bodies. Bodies build businesses. Right? Nervous system regulation. I can't tell you, Sam, how helpful tapping has been for me this year when I wake up at 2 in the morning in a panic, it's a lot of responsibility. More money, more problems. It's a lot of responsibility to run a big business.

Melissa Henault:

It's no easier than managing a smaller P and L. I would argue it's a hell of a lot more stressful because there's a lot on the line. I've caught myself I wake up in the middle of the night and with tapping, within minutes I'm back to bed. Do you have the tools in your tool belt to regulate? To self regulate as an entrepreneur is critical. We have to learn how to self regulate or you'll drive yourself into the ground. And the ability to unblock and think creatively. We're going to expose you to some fun stuff, today and tomorrow, if you've not been exposed to, with some creative work. Okay? So we're going to do a group exercise here, And it's gonna be broken into 2 parts.

Melissa Henault:

The first 5 minutes, I want you to reflect on a business challenge, and it has to be far enough back that you can actually reflect on the blessings in it. Okay? You can work on something that's happening right now, but if it's so raw, this isn't gonna serve you. I want you to actually because this was so therapeutic for me in January when I felt like I was hitting another wall, is I want you to go far enough back in your life, far enough back in your business. I want you to journal a scenario where you felt like it was the end of the world. Maybe it was your corporate the corporate scenario I told you. Maybe it was when you were just hit whatever. You were hitting a brick wall, and you weren't getting what you were looking for. Give me the ugly girl, ugly man, snotty cry on the bathroom floor moment that you can recall and reflect on the blessings that actually came out of it afterwards.

Melissa Henault:

Okay? This is your exercise for the next 5 minutes. So I'll let you guys turn on the some music, and we'll start for 5 minutes. And I'm gonna grab some water while you guys do that. Okay? I came here with a broken heart that no one else could see. I drew a smile on my face to paper all for me. The wounds here when tears dry I look at the 2 clocks, and now I'm like, I don't know. Do you guys Alright. Let's see.

Melissa Henault:

What's next? Okay, guys. Now, here comes the fun part. This is where we're gonna share with a partner. Okay? So just someone close, close by, because I want you to inspire each other. Did some of my stories of just being at rock bottom, and it turned out to be okay to inspire you? Or you're like, maybe I'm alright? Yeah. Like maybe it's not rainbows and unicorns for Melissa all the time. Right. Right.

Melissa Henault:

Okay. So what I want you to do is just turn to a partner, find a partner. And over the next couple of minutes, I want each of you to share what was the challenge, and how did the challenge change you? What was the challenge, and how did the challenge change you? Okay? Give you guys a couple minutes to do that. Yeah. You do. You do. You've got you've got about, 5 minutes. I put my heels back on since I know there's gonna be pictures up there on the chair.

Melissa Henault:

I don't know. That's the only reason I'm willing to put them on. Yeah. I just need a signal if you can see a boob. This is Jody. She's like, I don't wanna be able to see anything underneath your jacket. So I'm like, well, in that case, you might see everything. Alright.