Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Melanie Shmois. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Melanie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

I followed a very traditional path in terms of education. I went to an all girls private high school, then a Jesuit college, got nominated to skip a year of college and start my graduate school training early, then on to an internship, got hired from the hospital that I interned with, then worked for several years before starting my own private practice.

My private practice was thriving when on a whim (which later I figured out was an intuitive hit) I decided to fly to California for 8 days to become a life coach. Never did I ever conceive of leaving my private practice to pursue coaching, but that is what I did. I slowly terminated with long-standing therapy clients and took the risk to pursue having my own coaching business. My family, my therapy colleagues and probably even some of my friends thought this was a crazy risk since I had a 6-figure therapy business that I liked.

The coaching business is something I am so passionate about. Besides having children and losing 40 pounds and keeping it off I think this has been the hardest and most rewarding thing I have done!

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

First and foremost I am a heart centered leader and business owner. I have over 20 years of experience in mental health and personal transformation. I love helping high-performers learn how to find fulfillment, joy, passion outside of their achievements. Many of them have an amazing life on the outside, but I help them find that on the inside so they can enjoy the amazing life they created.

I use a beautiful mix of cognitive psychology, intuitive and shadow integration tools to help my clients get unblocked. I help them create a new identity for themselves and be aware of how to stop the old identity from taking over. What sets me apart is that I am trained in therapy in addition to my coaching. My mental health background is so vast and strong. I have worked with clients with the most sever mental illness to the highest functioning CEO’s, NBA players, and movie producers and so many in between.

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

A lot of my personal journey has been releasing old stories, beliefs, and conditioning. Whether it came from my parents, my friends, society at large we all receive so many unhelpful messages. Starting with money. Concepts like “money doesn’t grow on trees” or you have to work harder to earn more money, or money is the root of all evil. I have had to unlearn a lot of these ideas to expand. I also had to be open to creating what is possible for me. Not always a linear, logical path. In fact, I have earned more money had more success in areas where no degree or experience as required.

In addition, I had to unlearn so many wrong beliefs around body image, weight loss, and what women can achieve. Letting go of so much diet mentality from the 1980’s and relying on someone else to tell me what is right for my body. There is so much power in deciding on purpose what you want to think about your body, your money, your potential.

Training and knowledge matter of course, but beyond that what do you think matters most in terms of succeeding in your field?

Mindset and nervous system regulation. I had no idea the power of our mind and the thoughts that it creates. I use to believe most of my thoughts without examining them. Once I learned cognitive behavioral concepts everything changed. I was no longer the victim of my circumstances, instead the driver of my results. Every day I spend time examining my thoughts and choosing which ones to think on purpose to create the life that I want.

In addition, I have had to learn how to ALLOW ALL of my feeling states. I use to resist and react and act out my emotions when I didn’t know this work. My negative feelings held me back from creating the life that I wanted. Learning how to embrace discomfort has also become a game changer!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.melanieshmois.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/melanieshmois/
• Facebook: Mind Your Strength Coaching
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/melanie-shmois
• Twitter: @mindurstrength