We were lucky to catch up with Alison Reaume recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alison, thanks for joining us today. Have you ever experienced a times when your entire field felt like it was taking a U-Turn?

For over 20 years, I’ve supported entrepreneurs, from multimillion-dollar founders to yoga teachers and scrappy solopreneurs. I’ve been the right hand, the behind-the-scenes brain, the one keeping things moving by always being ten steps ahead. It’s traditionally been a thankless job, you hold the role of the nameless backbone of the business (“my assistant” or “my team”) rarely acknowledged for how essential you are in pulling all the pieces together and supporting not just the person, but the business itself.We are traditionally brought in to manage calendars and inboxes, book travel, set up spreadsheets, or fix broken links. The focus was always on execution: check the boxes, keep things from falling apart, rinse and repeat. A job “anyone can do.”

Here’s what it actually is, a strategic intimate partnership, built on trust, where we hold your purpose clear in our hearts, like it’s our own. Where your capacity, your vision and your nervous system are our top priority, and just (if not more) important than revenue. It’s never been just about finishing tasks (that happens of course), but about strategically supporting you in creating a business that breathes on its own, so you can too. This role has finally begun to be recognized for what this strategic partnership.

The reality is that all entrepreneurs, start their business for one reason: to be able to design a life around their zone of genius. That doesn’t always mean they know how to run a business. They learn how to master their craft and guide their clients through transformation but not how to build sustainable income or grow in a way that feels authentic to them, especially when they are building a business that is rooted in care and connection, there comes a point when doing it all alone stops working. Growth is impossible when you’re constantly at capacity.

Now entrepreneurs are looking for someone who can more than just complete the to-do list, the want someone who can bring their vision to life, sustainably and strategically. Someone who sees both the big picture and the day-to-day. Who holds the structure (the backbone) and the soul at the same time.
After 20 years in this role, strategic operations partnerships and assistants are finally being recognized by entrepreneurs, founders, and even celebrities who are publicly acknowledging the people behind the scenes who help them bring it all together.

The truth is: the most successful entrepreneurs aren’t doing it alone. They have support. They have systems. They have someone who helps them align their business with the life they’re trying to build, and the systems to make it happen.

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.

My work lives at the intersection of strategy, operations, and soul.

I started my career supporting high-level executives in corporate environments, building systems, managing operations, and all the complexities of being on the front line of business decisions. But over time, I found myself drawn to entrepreneurs who are building heart-centered businesses rooted in purpose but struggling to manage the backend and grow, due to their limited capacity and constantly being stuck in overwhelm. Visionaries who were amazing at their craft but drowning in admin (or avoiding it), unsure of how to grow when they are already beyond capacity. That’s where I came in.

Today, I blend 20+ years of operational strategy and executive support, with my 16 years of teaching yoga and training yoga teachers with my love for systems and support and guide business owners who want their business to support their life, not consume it.

My offerings include:
• Strategic Operations Consulting (think: turning chaos into clarity, creating sustainable workflows, and building a business that actually works)
• Business coaching for yoga teachers and wellness entrepreneurs
• Course development, launching and backend support for thought leaders and educators
• Trainings, mentorship, and educational resources that bridge structure and spirit (like my Aligned Path business of yoga course and upcoming Yoga Teacher Training programs)

At the core of my work is a simple belief: your business (regardless of the size) should breathe on its own. It should support your purpose, your nervous system AND your life, not just your income.

I accomplish this in the way I hold space for my clients. I’ve worked with enough executives, and been there myself, to know that being capable and exhausted is not a strategy. I listen, I partner, I help carry the weight so my clients can come back to the work they love and am most proud of the excitement and the way my clients exhale when things finally click. When the systems start working, when their welcome emails are sent and their systems run without them. When they go from reactive to intentional. When they finally have time to rest, create, take a vacation or simply breathe. That, to me, is success.

I love this work, especially witnessing when someone realizes that they don’t have to do it alone, that they can fully trust in someone to support them and their vision. I’ve seen so many people try to do it alone, be it all and yet when they allow me to help carry the weight, and create the systems they finally get support for both their business and their life.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

Authenticity!
It’s about being open and honest about who you are, what you offer, but also where you have faced your own personal struggles and how they relate to the understanding of what it is your are clients are facing and how you can support them through their transformation.
And of course systems, having systems to onboard and help clients who are not only enquiring about working with you but onboarding and delivering to existing clients. When you have everything in order and a streamlined system to help you deliver in a timely manner, it doesn’t go unnoticed.

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

I was working in corporate when I had a tumor removed from my abdomen. During the surgery, they accidentally knicked an artery, and almost killed me. Three blood transfusions later and months of recovery, ongoing complications, and years of follow-up appointments that still continue to this day, that experience cracked something open in me.

I couldn’t go back to working in corporate, and pretending it fulfilled me. I knew I needed something more meaningful. So, I signed up for yoga teacher training and upon completion, quit my job, started teaching yoga full-time, and supported businesses on the side.

At one point, I was teaching 18+ classes a week, running around the city, taking on admin and marketing gigs for just over minimum wage. While I was incredibly grateful for the doors that opened (teaching internationally, connecting with students, doing the work I loved) I was also constantly hustling just to make ends meet. I was burned out physically, financially, and emotionally. And when a major levy was placed on my condo for repairs, I hit my limit. I couldn’t sustain it anymore.

I didn’t realize how hard it would be to chase your dream while trying to hold yourself together at the same time.

So, I went back to what was familiar: corporate. The steady paycheck, the stability, but also, the soul-crushing sameness.This next time I quit corporate was going to be the last time, and that’s because this time I learned from all the things that didn’t work before and I did it differently.

I made a plan. I took my own skills, the ones I’d used for years to support CEOs, entrepreneurs, and teams, and applied them to myself. I stopped separating who I was from what I offered. I created systems in my business that gave me space, boundaries, and capacity. And I built something that supported the life I wanted to live.

That’s why the work I do now is so important to me. I’ve lived the burnout. I’ve lived the rebuild. And I know what it takes to build something that breathes.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://alisonreaume.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reaumealison/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alisonreaume/

Image Credits

Shelby Herfst Photography