We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Lauren Megan Valdes a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

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?

My name is Lauren. I am a mother and wife, and live in Tampa, Fl. My craft is supporting women in healing their trauma so that they can create the lives and companies that they ultimately desire. The main modalities I use are somatic (body-based) trauma healing with a lens on feminine embodiment and womb healing. I am often referred to as a “business midwife,” supporting women in birthing companies and offers that are deeply aligned with their soul’s purpose and creative genius. It’s a beautiful infusion supporting women in understanding the ancient wisdom of her body and womb, her cyclic nature, creating safety in her nervous system and supporting her in accessing her intrinsic codes of abundance, wealth, pleasure and power.

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

In 2021, I found myself on the floor of my bathroom sobbing and crying out for God/the Universe/the Divine/Spirit to come in and support me. It felt as though everything I had, everything I was trying to achieve and to create was slipping away from me. My relationship of 10 years had ended, I hadn’t signed a new client in months, I felt like I was failing as a mother and it truly seemed as though I would have to burn my company to the ground and throw this vision I had away.

Despite feeling completely defeated, there was a very faint whisper and sensation that came in telling me to keep going. I was left with no other option but to surrender. Looking back now, cultivating the ability to actually surrender is the foundation of the medicine of my work and so much of what I teach clients how to do.

This wasn’t the first time that I had experienced this feeling either. It was the same feeling that came over me during 18 hours of labor in the birth of my daughter, Elliott. In that instance, I was in a birthing tub, completely naked and exhausted, riding the waves of expansion and contraction. My body had stalled out at 9cm for several hours and I had been fighting excruciating back labor, which if you have never experienced it before feels like all of your insides are being ripped out through you lower back.

I told everyone that was there supporting me that I simply could not do it anymore, that they needed to rush me to the hospital and just “cut this baby out of me.” My midwife knelt down next to me and told me words that would come back to me many times in both motherhood and business, “you are fighting your body, you need to surrender.”

In that moment, I leaned back into the water and felt the presence of the Divine. And shortly after, my daughter was born.

This same call for surrender, and the feeling of being held by something so much greater than me is what came in that night on the floor of my bathroom. When I finally mustered up the courage to get up, I knew that quitting wasn’t my truest path. That the ask was, instead, to trust, to hold faith, and to surrender to the beautiful, vast possibility of the unknown.

I then went on to have my first six-figure year in business, tripling the income I had made the year prior. Clients came flowing in. I even created and hosted a virtual women’s summit called “Pleasure, Power, Influence” with some of the most acclaimed speakers and over 500 attendees.

If I would have given up, I wouldn’t have the company or the clients that I get to support now. I wouldn’t have the wealth and freedom I’ve created, and most importantly — I wouldn’t have the beautiful daughter I have now, or the marriage that I have now either. Every point, every breakdown, every choice to give up – but not giving up – led me here.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

There’s so much conditioning and praise in our society around hustle culture. When I first launched my company, I fell into the trap that I needed to do more in order to receive.

I was raised by an immigrant mother who worked herself to the point of illness and complete exhaustion. Although, she “achieved” a lot there was a sense of self that was lost in the process.

The biggest thing I had to unlearn in running a six-figure company, was that as a woman my hormonal cycle did not run on a 24 hour clock, like men. It actually runs on a 28 day cycle, meaning my energy levels fluctuate and shift quite often.

I had to unlearn this whole concept of hustling, because I knew inevitably it would lead to burnout, exhaustion and feeling completely disconnected from myself as Woman, Mother and Wife. Leaning into, rather than fighting against, my cyclic nature as Woman gave me the opportunity to learn how to slow down when needed. It also showed me that doing more, forcing and hustling doesn’t always lead to results or success.

My success in business has honestly been me learning to tap into my feminine energy, deepen my relationship with my body & my womb, and allow THAT to guide my creative process and create powerful results for clients. There’s no rush in my world or an illusion of needing to do or prove.

Relearning how to receive more openly has expanded my capacity and supported my nervous system to hold more clients, wealth and opportunity with more grace & ease. It’s so directly opposite of what society teaches us and I’m excited to be at the forefront of this shift in the way women run their companies and create their wealth & impact.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.laurenmegan.com
• Instagram: @iamlaurenmegan
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/iamlaurenmegan
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@iamlaurenmegan

Image Credits
Jenn Elle Photography