We were lucky to catch up with Stacie Shifflett recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Stacie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. How did you come up with the idea for your business?

Tell us the story of how you came up with the idea for your business? Paint the picture for us so we really understand the context, circumstances, the emotions etc. Walk us through how you knew this was a worthwhile endeavor – talk to us about the logic of why you felt this would work? Were you solving a problem that no one else was solving? Were you offering a unique approach or what about this idea got you most excited?

The idea for Modern Consciousness® emerged during a period of profound personal transformation following the end of my 28-year marriage. In the quiet moments of meditation, I found clarity and inspiration for a new path in personal development. As I navigated the complex emotions and challenges of that time, I discovered a unique approach to personal growth that emphasized practical application and the ongoing, non-linear nature of self-improvement.

I identified a common problem in the personal development industry: many individuals attend seminars and workshops with the hope of finding a quick solution to ‘fix’ their lives. While they often leave with new insights and a surge of motivation, they struggle to translate these concepts into concrete actions that bring about lasting change. Modern Consciousness® addresses this gap by focusing on the ‘how’ – guiding clients to connect their actions with their desired outcomes, helping them break free from the inertia of their current circumstances and redirect their efforts towards intentional, meaningful change.

A core belief of mine is that our goals and values are not static; they evolve throughout our lives. We often operate based on decisions made long ago, without reassessing whether those choices still serve us in the current season of our lives. We also tend to compartmentalize different areas of our lives – career, finances, family – without recognizing their deep interconnections. Modern Consciousness® encourages clients to view their past experiences as the foundation for their present selves. By embracing the fluidity of personal growth and understanding the interplay between various life domains, clients can achieve greater self-discovery and chart a course towards a more intentional, fulfilling future.

The continuous flow of ideas and information during my meditative practices, including the company’s name, my theory of Modern Consciousness®, and my “Treasure Map to Joy™” concept, convinced me of the endeavor’s value. The persistent inner call to create this business, combined with my own transformative experiences, fueled my excitement and conviction about its potential impact on others’ lives.

Through Modern Consciousness®, I aim to guide others on their transformative journeys, helping them harness the power of intentional living, emotional intelligence, and continuous personal growth to create lives of purpose and fulfillment. Our programs focus on practical tools and strategies for personal development, self-discovery, and holistic growth, ensuring that each individual can achieve their unique vision of joy and fulfillment.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As an entrepreneur, writer, and proficient student of life, my journey has been deeply rooted in personal growth and transformation. Both my personal and professional experiences have taught me the power of resilience, self-discovery, and the importance of aligning one’s actions with their deepest values and aspirations. This journey led to the creation of Modern Consciousness®, a unique personal development coaching brand.

Modern Consciousness® stands out in the personal development industry through my distinct approach, embodied in the Modern Consciousness® Ascension Formula. This five-step process guides clients towards authentic living and wholehearted satisfaction by blending structured strategy with soulful exploration. My programs are tailored for discerning individuals seeking depth and meaning beyond superficial solutions.

I use this approach in my signature program, Elevate Your Life®, which guides clients through a comprehensive process of self-evaluation, goal setting, and action planning. The result of this program is defining a client’s unique “Treasure Map to Joy™.
Here’s an overview of my approach:

• Assessment: I begin with a thorough, non-judgmental exploration of a client’s life, delving deeply into all aspects of their current reality. Unlike typical “wheel of life” exercises which are completed in mere minutes, my holistic approach acknowledges the interconnectedness of life domains, providing a solid foundation for the transformative journey ahead. We spend time truly evaluating all of the rich dimensions of life acknowledging what is working well in addition to areas of frustration. I find that while we do monitor many things regularly – such as our annual doctor visit, our bank balances, when we need to have the car serviced – we aren’t taught to regularly review our lives holistically. It’s essential to understand where we are to create a journey to where we desire to be.

• Aspirations: In this phase, I work with the client to uncover their heart-driven aspirations, the desires that energize and give deeper meaning to their life. Moving beyond traditional goal setting, I explore what truly resonates with their soul, understanding that our desires change with each season of life. Often, we are still executing and making life choices based on goals and decisions that we perhaps made decades ago! In this part of my program, we look at our aspirations holistically to reevaluate the direction of a client’ life. Continuing to execute against outdated decisions can prevent us from achieving true fulfillment and aligning our actions with our current values and aspirations.

• Architecting the Bridge: In this part of the program, the client and I work together to strategically design a path that moves them toward their aspirations, prioritizing actions that will create the most effective positive change across all areas of their life. This is always such an interesting exploration as we tease out themes that are influencing a client’s life, gain a deeper understanding of what is creating gaps between where a client currently is and where they wish to be, and really gain a deeper understanding of our personal values. We focus on increasing emotional intelligence in this phase of the program, expanding our emotional vocabulary and understanding of habits that interfere with success and happiness. This is truly a transformative process!

• Activation: This step transforms aspirations into practical, actionable steps, aligning daily actions with the essence of the client’s dreams, ensuring success. I take a strategic approach with clients, recognizing that attempting to change too much at once can lead to overwhelm and burnout. By focusing on manageable, impactful changes, I help clients build momentum and achieve sustainable progress one step at a time recognizing that selecting the ‘right’ step leads to a quantum leap!

• Alignment: In this part of my program, I work with the client to provide strategies to integrate their aspirations into their daily life, guiding them to remain true to themselves amidst life’s daily hustle. This involves cultivating presence, fully engaging in life’s moments, developing deep self-awareness, and employing strategies to continue moving forward even when life presents obstacles, as it surely will. Staying balanced and grounded day-to-day is crucial as one learns to flow with the essence of self. By embodying what they’ve learned through my program, clients can maintain alignment with their true selves, ensuring that their actions consistently reflect their deepest values and aspirations, leading to sustained personal fulfillment and growth.

One thing that others tell me that sets me apart as a coach is my ability to create order out of chaos, perceive both the big picture and the details simultaneously, and identify patterns that provide valuable insights. These gifts have supported everything in life I have chosen to undertake. My sharp, inquisitive mind allows me to ask thought-provoking questions, guiding clients to excavate the answers that lie within them. I ask a lot of questions! After all, I truly believe that each person holds the answers within. Sometimes we just need a little help and a different perspective to reveal them. These self-discoveries then form the waypoints on a client’s unique Treasure Map to Joy™.

I work with individuals who, despite achieving cultural milestones of success, feel disconnected and yearn for a more fulfilling existence. My approach is particularly effective for those navigating major life transitions or seeking to reinvent themselves, drawing from my own experiences of transformation and reinvention, which I’ve personally done—and successfully—many, many times in my life.

I am most proud of the transformative impact my work has on clients’ lives. Witnessing them break free from limiting patterns, embrace their authentic selves, and create lives filled with purpose, passion, and joy is incredibly fulfilling. It is a testament to the power of the Modern Consciousness® approach and the resilience of the human spirit.

For potential clients, the main message is that transformation is possible, no matter their age or life stage. Modern Consciousness® invites you to embark on a journey of self-discovery, to break free from the patterns of the past, and create a life of intention, purpose, and fulfillment. Embrace the fluidity of personal growth and recognize that the power to create meaningful change lies within each of us.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

This is such a great question for me as I have reinvented myself so many times! As a matter of fact, some people call me the Queen of Reinvention! What does the hospitality industry, federal government acquisition and procurement, a llama farm, a construction company, and a personal development company have in common? Me!

What I would like to share with you in response to this question is a story about the power of saying yes, which led to one of my greatest professional achievements.

Even though I was a born and bred city girl, when my first son was born, my then-husband and I decided to move to rural Virginia. I was fortunate in that I was able to quit my job at that time and stay home to raise him and, given that I love to create new experiences and reinvent myself, I started a llama farm! Yes, you heard that right! Our son grew up in that environment, on a beautiful 40-acre farm with our own fishing pond, our beloved dog, cats, chickens, a huge vegetable garden, and a herd of llamas!

Well, one morning, walking back from the barn, my phone rang. It was a gentleman that wanted me to come to work for him to help a US federal government agency draft a request for proposal for a procurement system, in Washington, D.C.

So here I was living an amazing life as a stay-at-home mom with no intention of returning to work, particularly when the commute would be at least a couple of hours each way! The last thing I wanted was to interrupt my peaceful family farm life.

My brain immediately said no but when I opened my mouth, out came the words “well, I supposed I should at least hear your offer, so I know what I’m declining.” So, I agreed to listen.

We discussed the opportunity, and, in the end, I said ‘yes’ as we negotiated a flexible job arrangement that respected my time, even agreeing that the hours spent on the commuter train would be billable time as I could easily work on the train. Off to work I went embracing this new opportunity.

A few months later, things got really interesting as one of the top consulting firms in the world was also on that project. They recruited me hard and were reluctant to stop trying even when I told them I would never fit into their corporate culture and didn’t have any interest in climbing their corporate ladder. (Yup, those were my exact words!) However, the conversation continued and, in the end, they created a unique offer and position for me that fully met my needs for freedom and flexibility.
But the real climax of this story came when this path of ‘yeses’ led to me successfully acquiring a $50 million technology company. You see, I knew the company, I knew the technology, and when I woke up one morning with the thought of buying this company, I didn’t tell myself no, there’s no way you can do that. I told myself yes! Now the monumental thing about this acquisition was that it happened without any personal financial investment on my part!

And to think…had I not said ‘yes’ to that initial phone call walking back from the barn after doing my chores, none of this would’ve ever happened.

Why am I sharing this? Because these experiences taught me the power of stepping beyond the familiar. Our comfort zones are comfortable for a reason, yet what lies beyond them can be dramatically more fulfilling.

Sometimes, the best opportunities in life come from the least expected places and decisions. Before defaulting to ‘no’, consider what could be.

What opportunities might you be closing off? What might you gain if you simply stay open to exploring the possibility? How can you think outside the box to make it work for you? My recommendation? Say ‘yes’ to exploring and see where that leads because you never know what opportunity might be just around the corner.

I challenge my clients to embrace potential, to see beyond the immediate, and imagine what could be. What are they saying ‘no’ to without even realizing what opportunity might lie within? You never know where a ‘yes’ might lead you.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

When I first started my company, Modern Consciousness®, I encountered significant resistance and self-doubt due to my age and stage of life. Starting a new company at 65? Who does that! I should be retiring or at least doing something else, right?

These thoughts plagued me, and I doubted whether I could learn and remember all the new things required to enter a business model in which I had no experience. I would tell myself that I didn’t know how to do this and pretty much convinced myself that was the case, which is why I resisted creating this company for a while.

The pivotal moment came when I realized that my age and life experiences were not limitations, but rather, invaluable assets. I had to unlearn the belief that retirement was my only option. Instead, I embraced the notion that starting a new business at 65 was not just possible but ideal. I also came to understand that starting Modern Consciousness® at this point in my life provided a rich foundation of wisdom, experience, and insight to draw upon and my diverse skill set was exactly what I needed to make Modern Consciousness® a success.

This lesson is vital for my clients as well. Many feel stuck or hesitant to make significant changes due to limiting beliefs about their capabilities or the timing of their aspirations. By sharing my story, I hope to inspire them to see that it’s never too late to pursue their dreams. Our life experiences are valuable resources that can propel us forward.

The key takeaway is this: question your beliefs, especially the ones that make you doubt yourself. Ask yourself why you’re saying no or feeling hesitant and be willing to change those limiting thoughts. Embrace your journey, trust in your ability to learn and grow, and remember that it’s never too late to create the life you desire.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://modernconsciousness.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/modernconsciousness/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ModernConsciousness/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacie-shifflett-7b5a8922/