We were lucky to catch up with Caitlin Strempel recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Caitlin, thanks for joining us today. Looking back, what’s an important lesson you learned at a prior job?

The most important lesson I’ve learned, hands-down, is that no amount of income is worth your degradation of health. No matter how much you love what you are doing, hustling will eventually catch up with you and burn you out. I spent years chasing after all the big money milestones, and I worked hard to get there.

I was not getting nearly enough sleep, I said “yes” to opportunities that I should have said “no” to, and never let my mind or body take a break.

My mood was the first thing to go. I became more irritable and short-tempered with my husband and kids. I was drinking more coffee to override the tiredness, and shortly after that, my burnout started to manifest as physical pain and imbalances. I had constant stress headaches, I would be tired all day then couldn’t sleep at night, developed eczema, an overly sensitive gut, hormone imbalances, and my cortisol was through the roof! My health pretty much hit rock bottom.

I knew I needed to make changes. I reorganized my business, and released all the clients and tasks that were not aligned with my most important goals, which now included my health, peace, and inner fulfillment outside of my business.

I started to go to bed between 9:30 and 10 to ensure I got enough sleep every night. Once I did this, I actually accomplished much more the next day. I started only taking client & sales calls Tuesday-Thursday to have more time for rest, meditation, energy healing, and other things that rebalanced my nervous system. This not only made me happier and healthier, but I also could make better decisions in my business too.

It took a long time to transition into my new business model and routine, but it has been worth the feeling of pure inner-completion & fulfilment in and outside of my business.

Caitlin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hi everyone! :) I’m Caitlin, I’m an ex-marketing agency owner. I owned a marketing agency for 7 years but now I strictly consult for businesses who are looking to exponentially grow their bottom line through more streamlined and optimized marketing efforts.

I’ve been in the marketing industry for about 15 years working with startups all the way to global brands such as P&G, Lexus, Under Armour, and more, helping them with marketing strategy and implementation.

I am also an energy healer, and mentor business owners who are trying to survive and thrive in their businesses and lives as they deal with grief and healing trauma. This happened organically and naturally. As I shifted to consulting only, I started realizing that many business owners are dealing with issues outside of their companies that directly affect their in-office performance.

My clients started asking me questions like, “my mom was just diagnosed with cancer, how can I create a growth plan that allows me to take Mondays off and work more from home?” or “I’m in the middle of a divorce and I feel like I’m dropping the ball in helping my team execute what they need to do… what’s the best way to fix this?” And, as my clients become closer with me, they would start to ask me for help in regard to their own healing, outside of business talk.

Overcoming my own grief and trauma as a business owner, as well as being an energy healer, it felt like a natural spot for me to live in. Experiencing my first child having to get heart surgery at 2 months old and then my second baby coming 10 weeks early and having to stay in the NICU for 7 weeks, I know firsthand how underserved business owners and entrepreneurs are in this area. Healing, dealing with trauma, promoting your business, running a business, and delivering your services is too much to handle on our own.

It’s very rare to find a business mentor who is trauma-informed and can help you heal AND run a business. Typically, it’s one or the other. This is what sets me apart!

I’m most proud of the deep healing work I am able to accomplish with my clients. I am proud that I can help them achieve external and internal achievement and health. Together, we’ve released traumas and stuck illnesses in their bodies, reprogrammed limiting thoughts and patterns, and because of all of that have helped their incomes and business grow drastically.

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

I had to unlearn the limiting belief that my worth is tied to my achievements.

In my family, straight A’s were always praised, being the best in sports was always bragged about to other people, and achieving was a top value. Fast forward to my early career in the advertising world, hustling was recognized as being a team player, pulling all-nighters made you stand out as a top employee, and the one who sold the client on a campaign approval became a company favorite.

Slowly, I also learned (and had to unlearn) that achievement & success meant that I had to work really hard. Struggling and pushing and fighting was my only experience with success so when I started my own business it’s no wonder why I derailed my health in order to achieve my success metrics.

Having to unlearn this took years, and it also took a lot of trust in myself and the universe. Once I slowly started to show myself that I could be successful AND still get a full nights sleep AND stop my work day at 3 so I can play with my kids, AND so much more, my limiting belief started to unravel.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

There are two main ways I grew my audience on social media that I don’t hear too many people talk about…

1. I networked at in-person events.

This would get me WAY more followers in a week than any type of post would. And because I also connected with them in-person, they were way more likely to have meaningful engagements with me online and share my posts.

My advice would be to give your social media handle out everywhere you go and ask to connect with your new in-person connections online. I don’t even have business cards anymore. I just follow people IG then send them a private message to connect.

2. I leveraged other people’s communities.

I would connect with community leaders on social media and offer their groups or followers free trainings whether it be on an IG or TikTok live or in a private Facebook group, etc. This would give me direct access to people who weren’t following me and also allowed me the space to truly connect with them so they would want to follow me.

For anyone looking to do this, find leaders who aren’t direct competitors and who have communities that you can help where they can’t!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.caitlinstrempel.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caitlinstrempel/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/caitlinstrempel/
• TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@caitlinstrempel_

Image Credits
Stacey Poterson