We recently connected with Grace Emmons and have shared our conversation below.

Grace, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Almost all entrepreneurs have had to decide whether to start now or later? There are always pros and cons for waiting and so we’d love to hear what you think about your decision in retrospect. If you could go back in time, would you have started your business sooner, later or at the exact time you started?

I started my business at the exact right time for me. Once in a while thoughts pop into my mind like “if I’d started sooner, I’d be farther along…” or “if I’d waited until my children were older, I would have more time and could get further faster.” But hindsight is 20/20. And in reality I know there could have been no better timing than the crazy, unexpected way my path unfolded.

I started my company when I was a decade into a career in biotech. I already knew I wanted to make a big career leap, but I didn’t expect it to happen so soon. I had a timeline in my mind. And then I unexpectedly found out I was pregnant. That accelerated everything. Did I want to spend 60 hours a week away from my baby doing a job I didn’t really care about? The answer was no. Suddenly it felt like this now or never moment to take control of my life and begin to create a legacy I would be proud of. It wasn’t exactly easy to take on entrepreneurship the same year I was birthing and nursing a baby, let alone launching my second business around the time of my second baby, but I know the timeline was the perfect one for me.

The early days of parenting and running a business were like a training ground. I was learning what services I would provide, playing with marketing, building out my team, while learning how to care for little people, run a household, and take care of myself while doing it all. In a way, it was a blessing to build my businesses amidst the complexity and fullness of my family life… because I built my businesses in a manner that was sustainable for me as a mother.

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?

I’m a transformational coach and energy healer. I am founder and CEO of Forward with Grace, a boutique consultancy empowering leaders to thrive in their highest potential, and founder of Topanga Canyon Oasis, a micro retreat and intentional venue in Los Angeles.

I tried reiki when I was suffering from chronic pain and it transformed my life from the inside out. I was fascinated by what I had experienced and set off on a journey to understand the science of what had occurred. This path led me to Columbia University to study Clinical Psychology at the Spirituality Mind Body Institute. Along the way I also mastered reiki, astrology, kabbalah, and more. Now, I blend all of that into the transformative techniques I use with my clients.

My team and I serve purposed-driven companies around the world with leadership development and team building workshops and corporate wellness seminars, as well as 1-on-1 transformative coaching. We also host solo retreats, couples retreats, corporate retreats and wellness events at the Topanga Canyon Oasis in Los Angeles, CA.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

As I studied psychology and energetics, I began applying the transformative techniques I was learning to my career in biotech B2B sales. I began to open up my vision to imagine bigger possibilities, I unblocked my mindset, I began to play to my strengths and heal my nervous system. I aligned my success with my ability to make positive impact in the world. And I signed the biggest deals I ever had… $5M, then $10M, then $20M.

Before I made the leap into starting my practice, I was taking home huge commissions off these deals. I paid my way through my Masters Program at Columbia, which would prepare me to head Forward with Grace. And I used my last commission check to buy the land for Topanga Canyon Oasis. Now I teach my clients how to unleash their unlimited potential to realize more success, impact and fulfillment for themselves.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The more you hustle, the more you succeed. This is false. This is short sighted and unsustainable. Especially for women. Yes, we have to be willing to show up consistently. Yes, we have to be willing to do the hard things, the scary things, to stretch out of our comfort zone. But the hustle mindset implies there is a linear relationship between work and output. It’s not really that simple. We each have our own pattern of optimal output, and there is always a point of diminishing returns. It’s important to find your own sweet spot of active doing and blank space for recharging.

Especially as a woman, I’ve radically reclaimed my willingness to trust my own body and to rest when I need to. By rest, I don’t just mean sleep. I mean take my foot off the gas and coast. For me that looks like building in one slow week every month with less meetings, client sessions and deliverables. This has not resulting in less success, it’s actually slingshotted my revenue as well as my satisfaction and overall wellbeing. Rather than feeling like I’m hustling, I feel in flow with my work and my life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://forwardwgrace.com/, https://www.topangacanyonoasis.com/
• Instagram: @forwardwgrace, @topangacanyonoasis
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-g-emmons/

Image Credits

Brittney Jean
Lolo Elizabeth
Christina Craig
Solange Aurelio