The Heart of Business Begins With Being, And Expressing, Yourself

It brings me great joy to see more and more authentic expressions from entrepreneurs in their marketing content. It is an honor to witness because I have held space in my heart for this shift for the past ten years.

Admittedly it is not easy. You might be apprehensive. You might feel especially vulnerable. You might think that to flourish in business you need to suppress your true voice because it’s just not appropriate.

Ten years ago I was told this by several trusted mentors and coaches. It went against my inner knowing, but I followed the “expert” input from my advisors because I assumed they knew better. Maybe for that time, yes. Now? A big fat, NO!

We are in the midst of a massive shift in how business is conducted. Heart language, conscious business practices and integrity have made their way into the marketing methods of spirit-based entrepreneurs and the masses are responding

Being courageous and speaking truth and authenticity in all areas of our lives puts us on the front lines. Soulfully and energetically, many business owners agreed to be the waymakers, the lightworkers, the path clearers, the visionaries, the knowers.

We feel comfortable in these roles in our personal lives, but somehow in business we think different rules apply. We may be afraid of (imagined) consequences:

What if who we are doesn’t attract customers?
What if how we are doesn’t resonate, or worse, offends people?
What if existing customers and clients don’t like the message or new direction and stop buying from us?

In my own experience — and observing the experiences of other dynamic women in business — usually the opposite happens.

When we are bold enough to be ourselves, fresh possibilities and benefits magically appear in the form of personal empowerment, support, encouragement and new opportunities.

Using my personal experience as a guide, these are some of the benefits to my audience as I give expression to my unique perspective and insights of business and life:

People find my writings refreshing — they are unexpected and thought-provoking.
My expression gives people permission to be more of their authentic selves — it models behavior that’s easy to mirror.
My transparency gives people an insight into the continual exploration of who I am — it shows that in spite of the ever-changing nature of life, there are prominent themes that play out as the constants and other facets that flux with the seasons, and gently evolve over time.
People get a front row seat to observe my personal and professional growth and actually grow with me — the quickest route to more alignment is watching — and patterning our behavior after — others.

Here are several recent heartfelt examples/revelations of authenticity and transparency relating to business:

In addition to the usual legal contractual jargon, one of my colleagues includes this in her Agreements with subcontractors: “My intention is to work joyfully with (client name) during this process and create a long-lasting, mutually-beneficial business relationship and friendship.”
In an email from a friend who is a hair stylist and aromatherapist: “I’m tired of doing things the way they are ‘supposed’ to be done or how everyone else pictures it to be done. I’m going to let my uniqueness, and maybe quirkiness, (I call it my creative side), flow out… those who are meant to be drawn to me will be.”
In a discussion exploring collaborative opportunities, a new friend and colleague emailed, “It’s a little frightening to come out of the closet and admit that heart and soul are prime ingredients in marketing. I actually admitted to my participants that I was praying for them, praying to attract the perfect [fit], and for the success of the project. Then I invited them to join me in that prayer. This was scary for me to do. Thankfully, I got a very positive response and no one left the project because of my admission.”

Each of these examples looks and feels like courage to me.

The heart of your business is you. Inject your unique personality with every opportunity. The world is starving for more voices that actually have something valuable to say. Let your authentic voice be heard! We have so much to teach and learn from each other. The only way to do our part in this changing time is to let our individual lights shine to fully express our soulful selves.

Go forth and shine brilliantly… not only for yourself but so the rest of us can benefit as well.