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

Lisa, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today One of the toughest things about progressing in your career is that there are almost always unexpected problems that come up – problems that you often can’t read about in advance, can’t prepare for, etc. Have you had such and experience and if so, can you tell us the story of one of those unexpected problems you’ve encountered?

I started my business wanting to help people like me using the tools I had used so far. I thought it would be easy. I looked to friends to be my clients. I did free and donation based services. I posted often online, just like everyone else. For many years, I neglected to hone in on a problem to solve or a client avatar. Then I started taking classes and using Chat GPT, following other people’s frameworks without breathing and taking the time to consult my soul. All of this was wrong. Before my entrepreneurial journey, I was on a mastery journey. My journey as an entrepreneur is a continuation of that. I’ve built everything I have now from absolutely nothing with little to no help. It’s compelling to see other coaches and consultants you like and mimic what they do in your own vision. This will get you where I was for 5 years. Doing lots of “work” and ultimately getting no where. We each have an energetic blueprint. Within it contains the energies we came here to use and in what manner. When we align with that blueprint, success is certain. When you are not, life.. and business is a huge struggle. I ultimately joined the No More 9 to 5 Club, absorbed the good vibes there from people who are already successful and wanting to help. From there, I developed my own method of aligning with my energetic blueprint which included daily journaling, affirmations, and embodiment practices. I had experienced so much success in my own personal development and gotten so much clarity with that, creating the foundation for how I work with others. This was powerful because I worked my own program and experienced results, which gave me the confidence to move forward in sharing that customizable framework with people who are established. It also gave me the confidence to seek out a mentor. For the longest time, I didn’t have a 1:1 mentor due to financial constraints. It becomes a catch 22. Through the No More 9 to 5 Club, I found a mentor that specializes in getting people’s business off the ground and he set up a plant that worked for my very limited budget. The club has a couple of mentors that are retired and volunteer to mentor professional members at no cost. Ask, and you shall receive.

Lisa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a Long Island native who spent a decade in what I call a total structural collapse. Between the ages of 16 and 26, I navigated the deepest shadows of the human experience, including addiction, systemic failure, and the loss of my son to adoption. The most harrowing part of that decade was a three and a half year period where I was held in a home and sexually abused. In those years, there was no coherence. There was only the absolute violation and fragmentation of my safety, my body, and my sense of self. I did not find peace there; I lived through the total annihilation of it. That experience gave me an involuntary and profound understanding of what happens when a human system is forced into a survival loop so deep that the self becomes a stranger. My journey since then has been one of radical reclamation—rebuilding my own operating system from the ground up until I reached the life I lead today. I now steward 40 acres in Arkansas and lead Soul Deep Alchemy, serving high capacity leaders and nonprofit executives who look successful on paper but feel a quiet, persistent mismatch between their inner truth and the lives they have built. They are often the linchpins holding their worlds together through sheer force of will, and I help them move from functional fragmentation to structural coherence. What sets me apart is this range: I possess the analytical depth to see where a system is failing and the lived authority of someone who has returned from the absolute edge of human endurance. I can identify a structural leak in a business or a boundary within minutes because I have spent two decades studying how things break and how they are truthfully put back together. I am most proud of the fact that I no longer have to effort to be alive. I want my clients to know that your burnout is not a lack of discipline; it is a lack of alignment. You do not need more motivation; you need to reclaim your structural integrity so your life can finally feel inhabited again.

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

Recently, I had gained momentum with my mentor and a survival loop recurred. My partner’s only income was using my truck for instacart. We live in rural NW Arkansas. Despite my pleas to find something other than instacart to generate income, he ran my truck into the ground. He was also out of money. Typically he pays the bills. I take care of our food and animals. This is the 4th time this loop is occurring. This time, I had done enough work. I did not lose my coherence or react in the moment. I also took time in stillness to see it all from a higher perspective. The truth is, in my subjective reality, I was in a flow. Health is great, making new connections with like minded souls, experiencing momentum in my business, getting free things form amazon, occasional sales on marketplace and ebay. This isn’t perfection. This still the liminal. But it’s clear momentum. Moving up. On my partners end, he’s had health decline, money issues even when I’m not around, is not budgeting or using any financial literacy, and his mood has been very up and down. I don’t say this to judge, but this is how I observed that the survival loop was not mine. It was his. I was making it mine. In the past, I’d drop everything and try to do something to make guaranteed money. This time, I’m sticking with my business and moving forward with everything I was planning. Is it an uncomfortable situation? Yes. Am I fragmenting over it? NO! It takes time to make a business work. I’m only embarking on true success right now because I’ve remained devoted for the past 6 years. I always say this is my 6th first year of business. Next year will be my first official second year. Never give up. Sometimes you need a pause and that is fair. Sometimes you need space form the problem to find a solution. Other times, you just need to pivot.

How did you put together the initial capital you needed to start your business?

I started from nothing. I did not have credit or resources to invest in myself, so I had to get creative. There were a few years where I invested in CRM, over Doing and got nowhere. I was chasing my tail in many ways. Lots of doing, no needle moving. I’ve found power in simplicity. Using a doc instead of a funnel to present an offer. I found the No More 9 to 5 Club, networked with them, and met lots of people who were not only encouraging, but helped me have confidence, hone my mindset, find a mentor that would work with me. Always ask for what you need. The person you’re asking may say no. But they might say yes! Why not try? Simplify and ask for what you need!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/souldeepalchemy/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisa-caruana-b57107339/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@SoulDeepAlchemy

Image Credits

all me or ai