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

Sheila, appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I’ve always considered myself fairly risk-averse — which sounds funny coming from someone who now runs her own business and spins fire for fun. Yet on many levels, I used to choose safety and security over the riskier endeavor.

For twenty years, I thrived in the corporate world. But around year fifteen, I felt the spark fading. I knew I was meant for something more creative, more soulful — but as a single mom of two teenagers, walking away from a high-paying job felt impossible. Security can be a beautiful trap.

Then the Universe gave me a nudge I didn’t have the courage to take on my own — I was laid off. That “loss” turned out to be the best gift of my life. It forced me to stop playing it safe and finally carve my own path.

What felt terrifying in the moment became the turning point for everything that followed — freedom, flexibility, and the chance to do deeply meaningful work that truly aligns with who I am. I’m endlessly grateful for that push out the door.

Sometimes the biggest risks are the ones life takes for us — and the reward is finding out who we were meant to be all along.

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.

Making Space for More: How Sheila Elaine Helps Women Reclaim Joy, Clarity, and Meaning

We caught up with Sheila Elaine, a Tucson-based speaker and coach whose work has inspired thousands of women to stop running on empty and start living with intention. Through her signature talks, retreats, and coaching experiences, she helps high-achieving women move from selfless overdrive to soulful alignment — and to finally make space for what matters most.

The Story Behind the Mission

“For years, I was the woman who looked like I had it all together, at least on paper — success, family, community — yet I was running on fumes,” Sheila shares.

Like so many women, she lived by unwritten rules that said to put everyone else first and prove your worth through endless productivity. Eventually, that version of success stopped feeling successful.

Her mission was born out of that realization: “When women make space for themselves — mentally, emotionally, and physically — they don’t just refill their cups, they overflow. From that overflow, they give more freely, love more deeply, and lead more powerfully.”

Meet Sheila Elaine

“I’m a recovering over-giver turned space-maker,” Sheila laughs.

For more than a decade, she spoke bi-weekly at Canyon Ranch Spa & Resort, guiding guests back to their own inner wisdom and creating a life they love. Since then, her message has traveled across corporate stages, women’s circles, and international retreats.

Her journey, she says, “wasn’t linear — it was more like a yoga flow with a few fire dances in between.” Each chapter — motherhood, entrepreneurship, reinvention — has been about peeling back layers of “shoulds” to rediscover what’s real and alive within.

What She Offers

Sheila offers transformational keynotes, retreats, and coaching programs that help women reconnect to themselves and reclaim their joy.

Her signature keynotes include:

*Make Space for More — Release the rules. Remember who you are.

*The Gratitude Cure — Transform dark days into bright tomorrows.

*Create a Life You Love — Practical ways to use the Law of Attraction to create what you want.

Everything she teaches blends soulful insight, practical science, and humor — because, as she says, “growth doesn’t have to feel heavy.”

The Problem She Solves

Many of the women Sheila works with are successful by every external measure, yet quietly feel depleted, disconnected, or guilty for wanting more.

“They’ve checked every box and still wonder, Is this it?” she explains.

Her work helps them rewrite that story — moving from exhaustion and obligation to clarity, fulfillment, and peace. “I help women shift from selfless overdrive into soulful alignment,” she says. “It’s not about doing more — it’s about being more you.”

How It Works

Her process always begins with making space — clearing the clutter of expectations and reconnecting with inner wisdom. From there, she helps clients identify the values, boundaries, and desires that shape a life aligned with truth rather than obligation.

“It’s not about adding another to-do,” she emphasizes. “It’s about subtracting the noise so your next step becomes obvious. Think of it as soul decluttering with strategy.”

What She’s Most Proud Of

“I’m proud that my work gives women permission to exhale,” Sheila says. “After my talks, women often tell me, I feel so much lighter! I resonated with everything you said. Our specific stories may differ, yet the lessons feel universal. I took away so many aha’s and permission slips.”

She’s also proud of the staying power of her message — for almost twenty years she’s witnessed the ripple effect and watched miracles unfold in her clients’ lives. “It’s an incredible honor to guide women back to themselves — to watch them let go, breathe deeper, and start living from truth instead of obligation. That transformation is the most beautiful part of my work and feels like pure magic.”

What to Know About Her Brand

At its heart, Sheila Elaine | Make Space for More is an invitation — for women to stop shrinking, stop hustling for worth, and start living in their wholeness.

It’s a brand rooted in gratitude, guided by intuition, and devoted to creating a world where women lead from their overflow.

Sheila smiles, “It’s soulful realignment — practical, profound, and unapologetically human.”

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

I was raised to believe that rest equals lazy — and lazy was the last thing you wanted to be called. Productivity was the ultimate virtue. That belief followed me straight into my 20-year career in advertising, where the motto might as well have been “If you’re not billing hours, you’re wasting them.”

We literally filled out daily time sheets to account for every minute of our day. Time equaled money — and neither was meant to be wasted. But one day, I looked at my perfectly completed time sheet and realized how many of those hours were spent on things that didn’t truly matter to me. I was checking boxes, not feeling fulfilled.

The real turning point came during a simple conversation with a woman who was struggling in her relationship with her mother. Something shifted in her that day — and in me too. I felt an unmistakable sense of meaning and connection that no marketing win had ever given me.

That moment changed everything. I realized that if I measured my worth not by how much I produced, but by how much impact I created — my entire definition of success would shift. That realization became the bridge from consulting to coaching, from doing to being.

I had to unlearn that busyness equals value — and learn that presence, purpose, and impact are far more powerful currencies.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

You can’t point to a single entrepreneur without stories of resilience — it’s practically part of the job description. And after nearly twenty years as a speaker and coach, I’ve had my share of moments where the path went from smooth trail to a sudden cliff drop.

There was the year all my coaching clients “graduated” within weeks of each other — a terrifying moment that turned out to be a clear message: it was time to raise my rates and expand my reach. Then came the pandemic, when speakers everywhere were grounded. Overnight, the very thing that gave my work life — connection and community — was off the table.

But nothing tested my resilience like surviving a ruptured brain aneurysm. In that moment, everything stopped. I had to trust that not only would I survive — but that my purpose and my business would too.

That experience didn’t just strengthen me; it clarified me. It reminded me why my message matters so deeply — to help women make space for what truly sustains them. Life, purpose, connection — those are the things worth protecting, worth rebuilding, and worth speaking about.

Resilience isn’t about bouncing back. It’s about rising up — clearer, calmer, and more committed than before.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sheilaelaine.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_gratefulgoddess/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheGratefulGoddess
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ sheilasornsin-professional-speaker-coach-sheilaelaine
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@THEGRATEFULGODDESS

Image Credits

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