→ Stop sounding like everyone else. Build bold, disruptive messaging that cuts through the noise and makes you the obvious choice. UNIGNORABLE starts August 3rd: https://www.embodiedmarketing.com/unignorable

Life doesn’t stop when you’re going through a hard season.

In this episode, I’m sharing what it really looks like to be crushing it in business while personally feeling like you’re in a really low place.

My business is experiencing incredible, record-breaking months. My team is the best it’s ever been. We’re living so many of the manifestations and things I wanted for this year.

And at the same exact time, I’m being forced to trust the unknown like never before.

I talk about the reality of being a leader when people are counting on you, even when you don’t have everything figured out. One moment, you may want to stop working and cry. Thirty minutes later, you have to host a live call, support a client, lead your team, or show up for your kids.

I also share what I’m learning about being in an emotion without becoming it, holding myself accountable with love, and unlearning the belief that I need to have it all together to still be loved and cared for.

Key Takeaways

• The same mindset that builds a $10M business can make the unknown so hard to handle
• Why you should remove every label and just be
• What I asked myself to crush it everywhere, not just in business

 ____________________________________

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READ THE EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Emily Hirsh:

I’ve had, rock bottom seasons in business where cash flow was tight and all the pressure was on me.

I believe that we are given the exact experiences and relationships and environments that we need to become the person that we’re becoming, and that we’re meant to evolve into. it’s like when you remove all of the labels and the identities, you’re left with just this pure intention and love that I think every human has. I think you have to have a connection to that within yourself to then not go seek those things because you now no longer need them because you are connected to yourself so deeply.

Embodied CEOs don’t chase trends. They pave the way they lead from within. Move by purpose, unshaken by noise. When you are the source, you do not need permission.

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the podcast. I hope you guys are having a great week. Today’s episode is gonna be a little bit of a heart-to-heart. I’m feeling it today. Before I get into that, I would like to make a little announcement that is gonna have nothing to do with the content. So my Really bad practice marketing of making this episode have to do with the, the content is not where we’re at today.

I’m super excited to share that we just released a brand-new product which is really geared for those of you guys who want to work with us, but you’re not ready in terms of investment. Even though our activate offer is actually for somebody who has never sold their offer before and is an incredible offer to help you validate your offer.

For those of you who that, even that investment you’re not able to do and you really wanna work with us, I have created a 30-day brand reset, essentially, called Unignorable. And in those 30 days, we’re gonna reset your messaging, your content strategy, and then we’ll actually create what the strategy is for your lead generation and for your sales conversion.

So basically, your brand blueprint over 30 days. And the idea is in order to be successful with anything in your marketing, you have to be able to stand out. I think that when I look at an inventory, everybody today that I talk to, you know, who isn’t yet where they wanna be and hasn’t gotten that momentum yet, it really does come down to being able to stand out, being able to cut through the noise with their messaging, their offer positioning, what their actual lead gen offer is.

People don’t understand how important that decision is, and those are things that we decide for you in a strategy call when you work with us. And so this will be an experience where I walk you through my process You will choose a lead gen strategy, like what the topic is, what the angle is, that is going to cut through the noise.

So all the levels of your marketing from your foundational messaging in terms of you having conviction, you having a message that you’re willing to stand on a hill and die for, right? Y- your content, your topics, what your lead generation is, what your small price offer is, what your sales and offer positioning is, all of that, making that cut through the noise.

So it’s a 30-day experience called Unignorable. And for this first round, I am going to actually be the one, there’s a weekly call, a weekly group call, and I’m gonna be the one facilitating it. So it’ll be a combination of material released at the beginning of the week, and then a live call, a live support call, basically, for implementing, and you’ll walk away with that standout messaging.

And it’s the thing that I thought of that I know will move the needle for everyone, right? Is, like, being that unignorable brand is more important than anything else in your marketing, and it makes all of your other marketing easy. So if you’re interested in that, go to embodiedmarketing.com/unignorable And you can get in on this first round, which will be a live cohort.

I’m not sure exactly if I’m gonna do it live again with a coach on our team or how I’m gonna do it. All I know is I’m doing these 30 days live. We kick off on August 3rd, which is a Monday, and we’ll go for 30 days. And so if you would like to be a part of the experience and be a part of the round that gets to do it live together and with me, I highly recommend you jump in on that. So, all right, you guys. That was my announcement at the beginning, which won’t have anything to do with the content.

I am having one of these days where there’s just a lot on my heart. And you know, being a, a content creator for a long time, I think it’s as much healing for me to get to share it as it is for you guys to get to listen to it. And so I’m not sure who this episode is more for. It could be just for me, and hopeful- hopefully, it’s helpful.

But I’m having one of those days where there’s just a lot on my heart, and it feels like this is the only thing that I could record, and I want to record a podcast today. And somebody close to me said the other day who works for me, said, “You know, you don’t really, like, you’re so strong.

You don’t really, like, struggle. And you know, in your content, it’s hard to show, like, to be relatable and show people, like, the things that people struggle with because you don’t really struggle.” And I was like, “Is that true?” Because I feel like I struggle. So do I put on a front that I have everything together, you know, and do I have a hard time showing that I struggle?

And you know, it’s this balance, like, being a content creator, anybody on here who does it, you know this. Like, you want to share and be authentic, where you also have to balance, like, when is appropriate to share things and when it’s not. And obviously, especially on the personal side, you have other people involved, and just kids, and you wanna be respectful.

So it’s a fine line, and I don’t think I do it perfectly, right? But anyways, that comment got me thinking around, I want to make sure that I do share that I do struggle, that I am just like you guys. And so right now currently, I feel like I am in such a season of duality. I just… I sent that to a friend the other day who sent me a text and said, you know, “How’s it going?”

And I said, “It is such a season of duality because…” And that I feel like is life so often. Because I currently am in a season in my life where I am navigating one of the most challenging seasons personally that I’ve had to yet in my life. And it doesn’t really matter what that is. I know when people say that, like everybody wants to know what it is, and it’s like it doesn’t matter.

I’m going through a season where it is asking me to trust in the unknown like never before and to surrender. And I believe that one of the reasons I am here, like my soul is here in this life, is to learn that, is to learn how to trust myself, therefore God, universe, whatever you wanna call it, more. And it’s the hardest lesson for me to learn.

I have a really hard time with it. So I am navigating a very challenging personal season, and a lot of people say that when you turn 30, what is it? Your s- your Saturn return or something. I’m 31, so I’m a little behind, but I’ve… I feel like I am at the beginning of a new season in my life, a new evolution, and I also feel like I have no idea what it is gonna look like, and that is so terrifying to me And at the same exact time, I am experiencing record-breaking months in the business, like incredible sales, incredible delivery.

My team is the best it’s ever been. I have this incr- office downtown and the studio, and the new business. And so it’s like this duality where one area of my life and my identity and me is crushing it. Like we’re living the dream. Like all the, the manifestations, all the things that, you know, I wanted this year is unfolding.

Obviously not exactly how I always think it is and I’m not even saying that it’s easy, right? There’s plenty of challenges in business. Like we are having incredible record-breaking months, which of course put pressure and logistical and operational challenges on the business, and I always tend to take on a lot, so there’s always something.

You know, I have a lot of, not even pressure on me, just a lot happening. And then at the same time, I’m navigating this chall- this other side of my life that feels like it’s a really low place. And so it’s really a weird place to be, because I was in the office today, and this is why this is on my heart, because I guess I just wanna be really real with you guys.

Like that comment, you know, I think I do show a lot of the incredible things in my life because my life and my business is really cr- incredible, and I have built success and I have been extremely resilient in building that. But I’m not immune to normal human experiences. And I was in the office today and I’m by myself in here today, and I was just witnessing how one moment I would go from wanting to like not work and just cry to like, “Okay, yeah, you know, here’s approve that email.”

Like, “Let me run this call for the client. I gotta record a podcast.” And just, you know, I think everybody kinda goes through that in life where it’s like life doesn’t stop. Life doesn’t stop and your responsibilities don’t stop. And as an entrepreneur especially with team and clients and for me now two businesses, and then my kids, it’s like all of that doesn’t stop for me to just navigate and feel, you know?

And I’m not the best at feeling. I’m working on it. And, Anyways, I was watching myself go from, like, this one place to this other, and almost, like, be in my body and be in this experience of emotion, and then, like, shut it down and move to my head and be like, “Okay, I gotta get these tactical things done.”

So I wanted to bring that here because, number one, I think it’s very important for you to see that anybody who you look up to, if some of you look up to me as business owner, mom, whatever, who you look up to is really just a human going through the human experience, and the human experience is not easy.

we learn our greatest lessons through pain, I believe that, and through contrast, right? We can’t really understand the light and joy and all of those positive emotions without the contrast of the opposite. And I have, for sure, learned my greatest lessons through pain, and that’s unfortunately the human experience that we signed up for.

I don’t know if it’s unfortunately. It is what it is. So I want to, number one, connect with you guys in that way, and then talk about how I navigate it. And I’m gonna be completely honest with you, I do not navigate this perfectly. Like, I am not showing up on this podcast episode giving you the three tips for how to navigate a hard season and still crush it in your business.

Like, screw that. Because I am doing this so imperfectly because this side of things I am not very good at I am not very good at slowing down and feeling things I don’t wanna feel. I’m working on it, and I’m rebuilding that connection with myself every single day, and that trust with myself. And I’m realizing that the reason why I have such a hard time in these situations is because, for whatever reason, I don’t think I’ll be okay.

So I hang on to things and I can’t let go because I think without that situation exactly how I want it, I won’t be okay. Whereas in business, it’s so interesting because it’s like I know that I’ll be okay no matter what. You could drop a lawsuit on me. You could, you know, have some big Facebook update that messes things up.

Like, I know for a fact, 100%, that I’ll be okay no matter what. But in my emotional body, I don’t know that. Like, I know that logically. I can sit there and logically tell myself, “You’re gonna be okay,” and go through it. But that doesn’t work. That doesn’t work in the nervous system to be like, “Listen, nervous system, we’re gonna be alright.

Let’s logically look at this.” I’ve tried. It doesn’t work. So I also want to acknowledge that I do this very imperfectly. And so this episode is not me giving you completed, polished advice. It is me connecting with you in a real season of the middle of figuring things out, and explaining what I do.

And these are some things that I have learned recently because I think I used to be way worse at this. Like, I’ve come a long way in the last like three or four years. So when I am navigating this duality, and of course, this has happened many times, right? Like, we go through things.

And like I said, business doesn’t stop. Like, you can’t just… I think not enough people talk about that as a leader. I mean, I do think it’s true for any human, right? That even if you have a job, you still have to go show up. But especially as a leader You can literally be like bawling your eyes out, and then within 30 minutes have to be hosting a live call or a podcast and be fine, and turn it on and then turn it off.

And that is, I don’t know if it’s healthy or not, but it’s the reality. It is the reality of a large amount of people counting on you. And that can be a lot. That can be very heavy. But also I ch- sometimes I find myself in inner dialogue that makes me a victim to that, of like, “I have to carry so much,” and, “Why can’t somebody else do this?”

And, “Nobody understands.” And that’s not helpful commentary. So then I go to the understanding that I chose this life. I chose to step into my purpose of leadership and to be a leader, and that is one of the things that comes with leadership, is even when you are struggling and you don’t have everything figured out, you still have to show up, even if it’s not perfect.

And I don’t think… I think for most leaders, people don’t actually expect you to show up perfectly, and I’m learning that. I definitely, I l- I grew up in an environment of we ha- we had it all together. Even when we didn’t have it together, we had it all together. And that’s kind of partly why I’m doing this podcast episode, ’cause I’m trying to unlearn that.

I’m trying to unlearn that you will still be loved and, you know, cared for even when you don’t have it all together. And I don’t have it all together. So when I’m in these moments here’s some things that help me, is one, I’m very cognizant of the victim mentality and how easy it can get to spiral into that, and to allow my external environment to take power over my internal state, while at the same time I am learning how to actually not have resistance to emotion.

I think that’s the best thing I could describe, is I realized a while ago that The most suffering and pain that we experience is not even the actual emotions themself of grief, sadness, fear. It’s actually the resistance to those emotions. It’s my brain saying, “I don’t wanna feel that grief because it’s too overwhelming, and so I’m gonna lock up.”

And what I do is go into the mental loop of why I shouldn’t feel it, what I should feel instead, why it’s gonna be okay, and start analyzing. And I have to learn how to actually be in it without becoming it, right? Because those emotions are just a part of me. They are not me. So when I am in as, as day like today where there is grief and sadness, I am not grief and sadness, but there is a part of me that deeply feels that today, that the only way to actually move through it is to see it and feel it, and I don’t like doing that.

So I have to, like for example, I drove here this morning, and I could feel like it was just an… I didn’t… Today just didn’t, it didn’t start great. Like, I have these things that I need to sit with and process, but then I have all these things happening in the business, and it’s like this collision of my body going, “We need a second, and we need to process this, and we’re not okay with the reality that we’re in one of the busiest months of my business, and there is a bunch of things that need… Like, I woke up today to just a bunch of people that needed me, and there was this clash. And so what I did was I drove to the office, and I could feel it. I could feel it in my body like I was not okay.

And I sat in my car for probably 10 minutes with no phone. I turned the music down, and I just allowed myself to be with myself, to allow, like tried to allow the emotions to flow. I tried. And then I said, “Okay, and now we’re gonna, we’re gonna pull it together, and we’re gonna walk in the office, and we’ve got a to-do list, and we gotta show up today.

We may not want to, but we are. We have to show up.” So there, there’s this balance of accountability, holding myself accountable not becoming a victim because it’s way easier to be a victim. Like, it’s way easier for me to blame and be mad at other people and other situations, and I could feel the agitation today.

I was feeling grief, so therefore it was easier for me to turn that into anger and agitation at others and external than it was for me to sit with that grief. So not become a victim. And then the third thing is, like, balancing honoring where I’m at while still showing up to what I need to show up for and then not being a victim to the fact that I have to show up because that is the reality.

And fully honoring the place of duality, the fact that both things can exist at the same time. I can in one moment… Like, the human experience is just so wild. I can in one moment, one hour, one part of the day have, like, this extreme high of, “Holy shit, we’re crushing it in business. This is so exciting. I can see the path to 10 million.”

Like, all these things fell in place, my team, our offers, our launch, all these things. Like, I’m super pumped. And then within the next few hours, I can be at this low of, like, fear and grief in the unknown. And honestly, as I talk about it and as I witness it, it’s kind of a beautiful thing. It’s like we want life and everything to be so black and white and so linear, and it’s just not. It’s just not. It’s just not how it works. so that is how I navigate this. And I think, you know, sometimes you have the low in business, and then it’s like everything else is going so great in, in the per- on the personal side, and same thing applies.

Like, you still have to show up to the business even when things aren’t going great. And you still have to learn to allow yourself to experience those emotions that come up for so many entrepreneurs of rejection, failure, disappointment, anger that something isn’t working how you want, while still s- staying committed to the process and the goal and the vision.

And I’ve had those seasons in business. I’ve had, you know, rock bottom seasons in business where cash flow was tight and all the pressure was on me, so it felt like. And same thing applies. Same exact thing of like you can have one moment where you’re at this panic, you know, wake up in the night stressed out about how you’re gonna cover payroll, and then wake up and have to show up for the team or have to show up for your clients and show up how you wanna show up.

And I think, you know, that’s another thing is I’m doing a lot right now is connecting to the person that I wanna be and that I already am. But I’m choosing to be her. And instead of focusing on, you know, the fact that I don’t know how some things are gonna play out, the unknown is terrifying for me. I don’t know about you guys, but it’s just wild, like It’s only in…

I don’t know if it’s in, it’s not in business because I’m fine with the unknown in business because there is just this part of me that knows I’ll always be fine in business. But in other areas of my life, the unknown just terrifies me. And I think that, these experiences, you know, I believe everything happens for a reason, and I think that these experiences that I’m going through are giving me faith and trust, are teaching me faith and trust.

I believe that we are given the exact experiences and relationships and environments that we need to become the person that we’re becoming, and that we’re meant to evolve into. And so I try to look at it and go, “Thank you. Thank you, God, thank you, universe, for giving me the relationships and these experiences and these reflections and seasons that are building the exact thing I need to get to the next evolution.”

I don’t even want to say next level, ’cause it’s not always about the level, but to evolve. And, you know, we are here, I think, to continuously evolve. And I think especially for me, that’s one of my biggest life purposes, and like when I feel the most fulfilled is when I’m growing and I’m evolving and I am changing.

And sometimes, though, it is not a fun experience, ’cause you’re like, “Wait. I have to let go of this whole idea of how my life was gonna be, or version of me, or safety net, and basically jump off a cliff and figure it out.” And that is what it feels like. And so for me, like in, not in business, but in other areas of my life, the unknown is terrifying, and I am being forced, pushed, not gently, to fully lean into and trust the unknown.

And I know the more I do that, the better everything’s gonna be, and still it’s terrifying. So if you are going through a season of duality or, and I think a lot of parents experience this too, where, like, you have on one hand so much gratitude and love and fun being a parent, and then on the other hand, there’s like- the hard parts of it at the same exact time, and the guilt of like, am I spending enough time with my kid and, or my kids, and building the business?

And like, it’s just constant like duality in life. So I guess I came on here today to share this, not with any takeaways, but to connect with you guys in knowing that no matter what level you’re at If you are growing, and I think a lot of my growth comes from my inability to accept anything less than exceptional.

Not in a perfectionism way, but I have really high expectations for my life, and I think life is short, and there is no area of my life that I’m okay with being mediocre. And I really think that decision, and for me, it’s not even a decision, it’s there’s no other option. It’s how I’m wired. I am here for big impact, big growth, big evolution, big moves.

That choice to pursue a life at that level requires walking through seasons where things that used to be can no longer be for it to still be that extraordinary life. And that change and that evolution can be scary and painful, and that’s a normal part. So for those of you who think I don’t struggle, let me correct that and make sure you know I am human, and this is my weakness.

Business is my strong point. I have… Because my brain is my strong point. I am in that head all day, and I am learning how to be in my heart and be in my body more and have the heart and brain connection Remember when I was on the podcast, like if you guys listened to it, I don’t know, it was a few months ago when I was talking about a trip I took and I sat with the question of like, who am I when you remove all the labels?

When you remove the label of mom and CEO and athlete and leader and all these things that I do. And I 100% get validation and love from things that I achieve. And not even just for other people, for, from myself. Like I need that for myself to feel the validation for my own self. And I’m kind of unlearning that.

But within that, you have to learn to love yourself outside of those things and then ask, “Okay, who am I outside of those things?” And this thought came to me the other day on that question, “Who am I outside of all of these achievements?” And it sounds so cheesy, but it came to me in a meditation and it was like, at the end of the day, I think we are just love.

Like, and it sounds almost cheesy for me to say that, but it’s like when you remove all of the labels and the identities, you’re left with just this pure intention and love that I think every human has. And anyways, I think you have to have a connection to that within yourself to then not go seek those things because you now no longer need them because you are connected to yourself so deeply.

So I’m in the middle of that. I’m in, you know, an evolution of that, and I also think like we’re never done evolving, so this is just one season and there will be the next thing. And even within these seasons, like there’s weeks and even months that I’m like, “I’m pretty good. I’m through it. I passed. I passed the level.”

And then it’s like, nope, it’s another layer. We’re like onions. So I don’t know if this episode was terrible. I’m sorry I didn’t have the three things that you need to go and implement, but I wanted to just real and raw share with you that I experience these things and how I do, and how imperfectly I do experience them.

And I will also say, two more things I want to say. It’s really easy in these times to fall into bad habits or, like numbing. So I think this is why people turn to alcohol, to, you know, drugs, even psychedelics, I think, you know, masked as therapeutic are things people turn to. Scrolling social media. And so I try to be, and I’m not perfect at it, I try to be super aware of that, like when I am turning to those things, even work.

When I’m turning to those things with the intention of not feeling and numbing versus actually being something that’s in my best and highest good. Is it helpful? For me, I think scrolling is probably what I do that numbs. Like, “Okay, I don’t wanna sit here with myself and actually have to feel this, so I’m just gonna watch funny reels on Instagram or, like, inspiring reels or whatever.”

But also with that comes accountability for myself in the things that are really important, because right now things like meditation, my workouts, time with my kids, being present, time off my phone is extremely important. It’s more important now than ever because it’s… When you’re in a time like this, it’s easy to get off track of habits of the life that you want.

And so I think that it’s important to constantly hold yourself accountable with love, and that’s what I try to do. Be gentle with myself, but still be accountable. And every single day my goal is basically, who is it that I wanna show up as? L- as the leader, as the mom, you know, as a human being. Who is that person?

How does she show up? What is the energy? What are the thoughts? What are the beliefs? And then doing my very best to show up as her, and eventually the, the brain catches up and you become that person. And these seasons are really beautiful because you look back, you usually can look back on them and go, “Oh, I see why all that happened.

What a gift. What a gift the hard was, what a gift the pain was, what a gift the, the fear was because it taught me this.” But when you’re in the thick of it, it’s just sometimes really hard to be grateful for it, for appreciating it. all right, everybody. I promise we’ll be back to marketing content next week.

I hope you enjoyed today’s episode at least a little and got a little insight into my inner thoughts, my heart today. I appreciate all of you. I appreciate this community. Like I said at the beginning, these type of episodes are just as important in healing for me as they are for somebody who needed to hear this today, truly.

So thank you. I’ll talk to you guys next time