We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Holly Gottlieb. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Holly below.

Alright, Holly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

I spent a decade as a corporate headhunter, firstly in London, and then moving out to LA to open the first US office for the business. There were various points in that career where I felt disillusioned by the work, often having to make a sales pitch to win business, and there’s no doubt that working in any kind of sales business can often be a grind with numbers over your head.

When life imploded in 2019, hitting a rock bottom via the death of my business partner, various addictions, a job loss and then ultimately the pandemic, I swore to get out of corporate recruitment for good, and set off on this path of self discovery, committing to doing only what felt good. I hustled in a number of non-traditional ways for a couple of years, but eventually hit a brick wall with the money, I just couldn’t seem to ‘figure it out’. I happened to land back in the recruitment world, this time working for myself, and with a client that felt very aligned with my values.

What I realised is that it wasn’t ALL of the recruitment / corporate game that I hated, only certain aspects of it. and that there were components that not only was I really good at, but really enjoyed. Chiefly, the aspect of ‘connecting people’ is something that I really really loved.

Alongside this, I was on a path of learning how to really connect to myself, to my passions, and skills, and what brought me joy in the world, and I was finding so much fulfilment as a result.

I got to this place where I started declaring ‘ I want to get paid to connect people.’

Connecting people to themselves, to each other, and to connect businesses to revenue generating opportunities. I wanted to take out all the aspects I had hated about having to hit sales targets, and do what I was really good at, which is getting under the skin of people, and connecting them to the next thing either for their business growth or personal development,

At the time it felt like maybe it was an impossible dream, but I kept following the breadcrumb trail, working my own programme around detachment and expectations, peeling back layers of clarity around my self worth, and what I really want in this world.

After what seemed like an endless inner journey and continually taking the next action in front of me, using prayer and meditation to seek guidance for the next step, and learning not how to stress about the 50 steps after that, over the last few months that dream has been realised.

I am in the final rounds of a partnerships role with a company that I feel is about to be on the world stage (who knows where that will be by the time this goes to print), and I am building my own business, Whole Collective, around the 4 channels of connection: to self, to each other, to a sense of purpose and creativity. We host bi-monthly events centred around these themes.

In addition to a music career, and offering individuals intuitive guidance around building their business, I now have 4+ separate revenue channels which all are founded in the idea of connection.

I am getting paid to connect people!

Going from idea to execution, it really does come back to just taking the next indicated action. I believe this has been a co-creative process with a higher power, so trying to figure out exactly how this is all going to go, is something that I could never have anticipated, but looking back retrospectively, I have been supported every step of the way.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I’m in the process of remapping exactly what my service offerings are, so this feels like a timely process.

Having helped scale leadership teams for high-growth, VC-backed businesses in Europe and the US since 2013, I have seen the inside of many organisations at the exec level, across many industries, consulting on a wide range of growth strategies. What I have kept relatively in the closet until now, is that I am also an intuitive channel. I’m able to see deeply into people’s energetic field, sense of purpose in the world, and access a source of information that goes far beyond the rational brain.

In the midst of a global economic shift, I firmly believe the businesses that will continue to thrive are the ones led by heart-centred leaders, driven by a sense of purpose, deeply connected to themselves and their values. These kind of businesses are the vehicles that can deliver great impact and service in a world that seems to be very chaotic at times.

GROWTH excites the hell out of me. In what feels like my own purpose moment, I am excited to combine my two core areas of expertise, bringing together both the metaphysical and practical knowledge of growing a business, helping intuitively guide business leaders who are committed to realise their highest impact in the world.

Re. the events we host, It’s all about connection. Real. Authentic. Genuine human connection. Since launching in 2023 our events focus on that above all… how do we create a space where folks can go deep. With themselves, with each other, in an accessible way. We have hosted music gatherings, deep conversations, gourmet dinners, and heck we’ve even hosted James Blake…

Ultimately my business is not only my network, but also helping others find a sense of fulfilment and joy in their lives that I’ve been pursuing for the past 5 years, so in terms of service offerings within that:

– I intuitively channel guidance for individuals who are looking for a sense of purpose or direction in their careers.

– I help connect businesses to what they need next to help their businesses grow, whether it’s through investment, clients, or hiring staff for their team.

– I host bi-monthly events for business leaders, established professionals and creatives, centered around deep themes of connection.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Really it has been all about referrals. For a 2 year period, every single piece of business I was working on was a referral from a previous client, or someone within my existing network.

What I found with recruiting, is that often clients have a whole suite of people they can use to staff out their team. I think what it often came down to, was often the last person they spoke to, but generally speaking, clients want to work with people they like.

Yes, I’m good at what I do – I’m a good recruiter, have an intuitive sense of who and what someone might need next, as well as a pretty wide business acumen, but people like working with me – personal and communication skills aren’t always easy to find, and I’d like to think I have these to offer.

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

I touched lightly on my rock bottom story, but really it is a biggie.

When my business partner Tom, died age 34 in 2019, my whole life imploded. He was everything to me. I used substances to escape the pain, and I was lucky that I got a contract with a client that year which meant I was earning more money than I ever had, and quite frankly, the job was something I could do very easily, so it wasn’t that taxing.

By January 2020, 8 months into a spiral of pain, grief and substances, everything finally caught up with me. The job ended abruptly due to the business not needing to make any more hires, ending my one source of income, but also meant that my visa was no longer valid and I would have to the leave the country / my home here. There was a guy that I was totally in love with, and that wasn’t reciprocated, my family was going through some pretty challenging circumstances, and I finally realised I was abusing substances as a way of coping with pain, so the depth of the grief really set in at this point. I was also having what I now understand to be a spiritual awakening. I started seeing things, hearing things, I got to this point where I literally thought I was crazy, and had totally and utterly lost my mind. Perhaps it was a point of psychosis, but it was certainly a very vulnerable place to be, I was just simply in so much pain.

Up until this point in life, I had done everything I was supposed to. Went to a good school, got a good job, did all the things I was ‘supposed’ living as a 29 year old Brit in Los Angeles. But in January 2020, as a culmination of the above (and a couple of other things I won’t mention here), I got to this place of not wanting to live this life anymore. It was too painful. That old version of my life, had to die.

Some people call this point a Dark Night of the Soul. It certainly felt like one. I now firmly believe that any challenging period of our lives is actually some of the most fertile, nourishing spaces to cultivate a new life, but at the time, I felt very isolated and didn’t understand what was happening to me.

I was about to turn 30 on Feb 11 2020, so I made a commitment to myself, that I would gift myself my 30th year, to do only what felt good in the moment. I had some money saved, and I was lucky to have financial support from my family.

It was a real decision point. Because if doing everything I was ‘supposed’ to do with my life had led me to such a painful existence, then that version of my life had to end, and I had to learn how to live a completely new kind of life.

And that started with a lot of pause, and quietness. I was inhaling a lot of spiritual talks on Youtube. I read ‘Untethered soul’ by Michael Singer, and that was a TOTAl game changer. I have thoughts inside my head?! WTF!

Over the next few years, I learnt an incredible amount of tools, and a completely new way of being that totally transformed a life that I no longer wanted to live, to one of deep fulfilment, joy and sense of purpose.

I essentially learnt how to totally and utterly fall in love with my life. Being able to share that gift with others, who might be in a place of unneccessary suffering became the very core of my mission and work in the world.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wholecollective.net/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollygottlieb/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-gottlieb-2a998483/
• Other: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/the-whole-story-6957155712561012737/ https://wholecollective.substack.com/publish/posts/published https://open.spotify.com/artist/6wVnFvn3BWcOkI8xbEeMz4?si=s_QJoVHpQ0yg5Hi_qm87Og

Image Credits
Lauren Purves Tyler Aryai