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

Alright, Mackenzie thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Owning a business isn’t always glamorous and so most business owners we’ve connected with have shared that on tough days they sometimes wonder what it would have been like to have just had a regular job instead of all the responsibility of running a business. Have you ever felt that way?

I am definitely happier as a business owner. I fell asleep last night thinking of all the different projects I’ve been able to pursue since carving my own path and felt so fulfilled by that, as well as by the enormous amount of freedom that being my own boss permits me. And freedom is my highest value. So, yes, I am absolutely happier as a business owner.

However, of course, there are times when things are hard where I’ve thought, “Man, what would it have been like if I’d taken a path… well, more traveled?”

The last time I had that thought it cropped up due to more of a personal need than a professional need. To explain, entrepreneurship can be a lonely path, but when you are a nomadic entrepreneur living in a foreign country where you know less than 10 people… well, then it can get really lonely. It was on a day that I was feeling particularly alone that I had the thought of, “What would it be like if I had a whole team of people I worked with?”

Since I am so sure that the path I’m on is the right one for me, if I’m to fantasize about “having a regular job,” it’s almost always connected to something like this: an unfulfilled need in my personal life, more so than doubt about my career.

To mend that, I realized quickly that what I needed wasn’t to be working with a huge team of people. Frankly, I don’t do my best work in that environment, nor do I feel my most fulfilled. What I needed was to start reaching out to people and make a conscious effort to broaden my social circle, as well as deepen it.

While not every business owner may be nomadic, I do think many business owners feel isolated, misunderstood, and/or like the ‘odd one out.’ For anyone that feels that way, I hope this serves as a gentle reminder that it’s up to you to change that—it’s up to you to set the intention to build conscious relationships, and to prioritize that enough to put in the work to turn that intention into a reality. We all need people.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a Holistic Wellness Guide and I work with women who are feeling dissatisfied with their lives. That may manifest as feeling uninspired, anxious, purposeless, uncomfortable in their bodies, or having general low self-confidence. Whatever the predominant symptom, the root of it is feeling out of touch with who they really are.

I use a variety of tools to guide them back home to themselves—including Reiki, visualization, and of course active listening, which includes asking pointed questions to prompt deep reflection.

My work asks you to gently come into communion with your spirituality through simple, accessible practices. The magic of this work is that, not only is the original pain released, but there is a true homecoming that transpires. That tends to feel like peace with one’s true self, and a remembering of one’s inherent deep beauty. All of this has a trickle-out effect, transforming all pockets of life.

I also provide free support via my podcast The North Star, and in my articles for Elephant Journal.

Have you ever had to pivot?

When I started carving out my own path, I just wanted to write. I wanted to express myself and the things I’d been learning. I wanted to tell stories. Over time, I developed a deep love for spirituality and personal development, and I began to visualize myself working with people through the vehicle of the healing arts I’d been exploring. It took a few years of education, gaining access to greater clarity, and working through a ton of self-limiting beliefs… but finally I am working in the field that I dreamt about for so long. The hardest part to work through was the belief system I had which indicated I was a writer and I couldn’t be anything but because that was too “confusing.” I was hyper-focused on the box I’d put myself in and didn’t see a way past that. Once I was able to recognize that this limit was entirely fabricated by myself, I was able to begin to put myself and my intentions to do this work out there, and things began to take off.

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

Growing up I was the quintessential people-pleaser. Along my entrepreneurial journey, I’ve had to unlearn the lesson of “being a good girl.” To discover myself, my passions, I couldn’t do what everyone around me wanted me to do. I had to tune into my intuition and listen to that—even when it meant no one understood me, and many thought I was headed down an unwise, unstable path.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://mackenziebelcastro.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/mackbelcastro
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mackenziebelcastro/
• Twitter: twitter.com/mackbelcastro

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