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

Brigitte, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

There’s this myth in Corporate America that wellness is a perk, a yoga class at lunch, mindfulness app in your inbox, a band-aid over exhaustion. But nervous system regulation, emotional intelligence, the ability to breathe when the room feels like it’s on fire… that’s not a perk, that’s a lifeline. It’s the difference between humans who slowly unravel and humans who remember their brilliance.

Neuroscience tells us the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for decision making and creativity goes offline when we’re in fight or flight. In other words when the nervous system isn’t regulated, innovation flatlines.

I’ve watched this play out firsthand. Brilliant people unraveling under the weight of deadlines, their nervous systems running the meeting instead of their actual skills. AND I’ve also watch people completely shift after ten minutes of breathwork, shoulders dropping, voices softening. ideas flowing that weren’t accessible five minutes earlier. REGULATION CHANGES THE ROOM.

Imagine if nervous system awareness was as normal in boardrooms as spreadsheets, if pausing to regulate before a decision was seen as a strength, not a weakness. Corporate America can start small: train leaders in emotional intelligence, weave nervous system education into onboarding the same way we do compliance training. REGULATION ISN’T WOO, it’s wiring. And when people are resourced, companies don’t just squeeze out more productivity; they unlock brilliance, humanity and longevity.

The future of work isn’t just about better numbers, its about whole humans. Whole humans don’t just survive their jobs. They shine in them.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Hello! I’m Brigitte Khal, a breathwork and sound healing facilitator and PLOT TWIST an accountant. I’ve been working as an independent contractor in accounting for five years, and in that same time I found breathwork and sound facilitation. On paper they look like two completely different worlds, but to me they’re the same thing: finding harmony, bringing order, and helping people breathe easier. One uses spreadsheets, the other uses sound waves and breath. And somewhere in between, I realized that nervous system regulation should be taught in How to Be Human 101.

I came into this work through my own heartbreaks and healing. Breathwork cracked me open at a time when I felt like I was unraveling. It showed me that the nervous system isn’t just biology- it’s the doorway to creativity, resilience, and deeper connection. Pairing that with music and sound became my way of helping people move energy, release old stories, and come home to themselves.

These days, I guide experiences at retreats, companies, festivals, and community gatherings, both in-person and online. My offerings range from intimate one-on-one sessions to large-scale breath and sound journeys that weave voice, instruments, and nervous system education.

I also lead programs like Breathwork for Breakups, an 8-week container designed to help people alchemize grief into growth and reclaim their power after loss. The program blends somatic techniques, guided breathwork, and reflective practices to support participants in processing emotional pain and rebuilding inner strength. Whether it’s a corporate team on the edge of burnout or a circle of strangers who leave as soul family, my work is about creating safe spaces where people feel held enough to soften, release, and remember their own brilliance

What sets me apart is the fusion, I’m not just guiding “wellness,” I’m bridging worlds. I bring the precision and groundedness of my 9 years in accounting/operations background together with the playfulness of dance and the heart-opening power of sound. I can hold the logical and the mystical at once. That duality helps me create containers where people feel both safe and free to explore the unknown.

I’m most proud of watching people surprise themselves. The moment someone realizes they can breathe through chaos, that they can access peace or joy in their own body, that never stops moving me. I want people to know that my work isn’t about fixing anyone; it’s about reminding you what’s already inside.

At the end of the day, my brand is simple: I help people breathe, feel, and reconnect with their wholeness. Because when humans remember their wholeness, they don’t just heal, they shine, they create, they love louder. And the ripple effect of that is what I’m here for.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Entrepreneurship isn’t a straight shot to success, it’s a wild, wild, ride that will break you down and ask who you are at your core. No one talks about the struggles. You mostly hear the sweet sweet shiny wins. But here’s the truth: my path has been anything but easy.

I’ve always had a background in business management and finance. For a while, I poured myself into real estate. And then the market crashed. I was scraping by, going to every “lunch and learn” just to put food in my mouth. I started cleaning homes, taking any side gig I could, doing whatever it took to stay afloat. Each shift came with its own ego death: cleaning houses when I had imagined myself closing million-dollar deals. Stepping back from full-time real estate when I’d built my whole identity around it. Over and over, I had to let go of who I thought I was in order to step into who I was becoming. Talk about MASSIVE EGO DEATHS.

As soon as I released the white-knuckle grip on real estate, something shifted. By what felt like a pure grace of god. I picked up an accounting client. Then another, slowly, a business was born. The ironic part, when I wasn’t starving for Real Estate deals they started coming in…

Every cent I earned, I funneled back into myself… into breathwork programs, coaching certifications, trainings in emotional intelligence, deep dives into the subconscious mind and nervous system. That was my deep work. I started to learn the language my body speaks, how to regulate my nervous system, how to rewire my programming. I began nurturing myself into a better future.

Looking back, I laugh now but there was a time before all this when I was 24 years old, I tried to be a Life Coach as one does.. lol what did I really know about life then? But the seed was already there. Self-development has always been the thread I couldn’t ignore. Once I finally attacked it in full force, everything clicked. I understood how the nervous system shapes every choice we make, how our inner state determines our outer reality. And I knew I had to share it, to help people transform their lives through breathwork. Creating heart–brain coherence, improving oxygen flow, reducing stress hormones, and rewiring patterns that keep us stuck. It’s both science and soul: when the body regulates, the mind opens.

And that’s what entrepreneurship is at its core, not just building a business, but becoming someone new in the process. Every breakdown carves space for a breakthrough. Every ego death makes room for a truer version of yourself. If you can stay with it, breathe through it, and keep choosing growth, you’ll not only build something that lasts, you’ll build a life you’re proud to live

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

I’d say by going out and giving the world your best! One of my real estate brokers used to tell me, “you don’t get new clients by sitting in your living room,” and it’s proven true again and again, in real estate in accounting, and in my breathwork business.

Social media lets me scatter those seeds online, but when I’m out in the world, in a coffee shop working or at social gatherings, I become a little reminder for people to check in with themselves. That’s when they say, “Oh right, I’ve been meaning to book a session with you.”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://breathewithbrigitte.com
• Instagram: Breathewithbrigitte.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/khalbrigittetoclose/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@breathewithbrigitte
• Other: https://5daybreathworkchallenge.systeme.io/1b3c6760-343bd8fe-6647899d

  (breathwork for breakups)

Image Credits

Erinn Mae Photography