We were lucky to catch up with Rebecca Vigelius recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Rebecca thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear from you about what you think Corporate America gets wrong in your industry and why it matters.

There’s a belief that stress is something that happens outside of us. Certainly, there are external circumstances that cause us to feel stress on a moment to moment or day to day basis. Your boss, your kids, your partner, traffic jams, or other circumstances. But the truth is, how we respond to these stressors is something that’s entirely up to us. We have full control over if we react or if we respond. We have CHOICE about how we handle a stressful situation. Do we blow up and ruminate for days? Or do we have a hard conversation that leads to change? The “secret” lies in building capacity in our inner operating system so that when the hard stuff hits, we don’t explode or overflow. Capacity is the name of the game!

During my struggle with chronic stress I worked in an extremely toxic corporate environment. Not only were the pressures out of alignment with what any person should have to put up with, but the leadership itself was corrupt – not paying bills, not paying some employees, etc.

Two important things are at play here. First, because I wasn’t aware of the language of my nervous system at the time of that employment, I didn’t notice all the warning signs that chronic stress setting, leading to mental, physical, and emotional challenges I would then need to spend years healing from. Second, had I known the control I have over my stress response (or how my nervous system works), I would have felt far less fear in speaking up or quitting that particular position. Thankfully, the universe stepped in, I got laid off, and I started my journey to healing my chronic stress and helping others do the same.

Rebecca, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Hey! I’m Rebecca Vigelius (vih-gay-lee-us), Holistic Sleep & Stress Coach and Founder & CEO of Rested Edge Wellness — and I hand people the manual to their inner operating system.

Oh what a different place the world would be if we all understood that our nervous systems are responsible for our entire life experience… AND that we can change that experience by creating greater capacity within our nervous system so that when the hard stuff hits, we can handle it with more ease. Not only that, but we find it easier to show up authentically, speak our truth, and feel good physically.

I wish I’d know this sooner. Unfortunately, I did not. So through a series of life events I landed myself in a state of chronic stress. Feeling totally out of control and out of capacity, I tried one quick fix after another. I spent thousands of dollars on fad diets and supplements. And I berated myself when I tried things like yoga, meditation, and mindfulness and couldn’t stick with it.

Thankfully, I’m a life long learner and eventually discovered the key to turning my life around. Don’t get me wrong, stress still happens! I always say, if you’ve got no stress, you’re probably not hanging out on this earthly plain any longer. I discovered, though, that stress mastery is an inside job. That I could influence my stress response by working with my nervous system – so I didn’t feel so overwhelmed, stopped overthinking, stopped trying to suppress emotions with food and booze.

Once I discovered this, I decided more people need to know! Your quintessential coaching story. So, I set out to build a business where I could share my experience and expertise with others who could use my help. I have a 1:1 coaching practice where I work primarily with high-powered, high-performing professional women. I also work inside organizations helping leaders and teams understand their stress response and change it for the better. This is especially helpful in high stakes, high stress environments or where teams are navigating change.

The work I do is unique because we don’t focus on the external for stress management. Stress mastery is an inside job so I go there – with both my individual and corporate clients. I love seeing my clients have that a-ha moment when they realize they have so much more control over how they feel and experience work and and their personal lives than they thought. Even when stressors persist.

I worked as a TV News Producer, Corporate Communications Executive, business owner, coach, and consultant for over 20 years — leading teams, simplifying the complex, and helping 100s of high-achievers reach and exceed their well-being and performance goals.

My coaching and education programs are developed using an engaging story and science-backed system combining nervous system literacy, trauma-informed mindset tools, and sustainable habit change.

I’m most proud of my building a business that’s helping people make sustainable change and create capacity to do what they want to do while feeling good doing it. I’ve taken a lot of risks in my life and I’m proud that they’ve led me here. Each one has been a stepping stone to this place and I’m sure there are many more steps to come.

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

I had to unlearn perfectionism. Also a stress response. One that I had been dealing with since I was a child with a father who demanded perfection… perfect grades, perfect exterior, no room to breathe or learn. There’s no place it shows its stuff more prominently than when you’re a beginner entrepreneur trying to get stuff done. When I started my first business as a copywriter and messaging strategist, I learned quickly that perfectionism would get me nowhere fast. That I had to be willing to make mistakes, fail, and move on quickly. Thankfully, I’ve embraced this in my coaching and consulting business where I take risks daily and help my clients embrace the beauty of making moves and learning from them.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I was working in a very toxic corporate environment. I was scared to quit because of the golden handcuffs. I had also moved and started working remotely part-time and lived about a 2-hour commute from the head office. So, when I was abruptly laid off (thankfully!) I had to pivot. I knew it would be very difficult to find a VP level role in my local community. I also knew I was never going to make that commute and I was never going to move back to the city (I had moved into the suburbs to be closer to my husband who’d I’d met during this time). I decided to be brave and start my own business. It wouldn’t be the business I’d stay in forever, but it was a quick success and got me through some difficult times.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.rebeccavigelius.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rebeccavigelius/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rvigelius/

Image Credits

credit: Rebecca Vigelius