Special Guest Video
Dr. Axel Meierhoefer 🏕️🔥 of Ideal Wealth Grower shares a common fear that solo-preneurs face when they experience the famine side of business-ownership.
Storytime
“Can we talk after class?” Kelli and Tom asked as they signed in for Saturday morning Slow-Flow Yoga, my most popular class. Their request was odd, but I decided to feel honored.
90 minutes later, we sat in the lobby with a cup of tea.
“Class was weirdly small today,” I commented as Kelli blew on her tea.
“That’s what I want to talk to you about,” she swallowed and looked at Tom. Something was off. Her look said, “you tell her, I don’t want to tell her.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, taking a sip of tea.
“Today’s our last class,” he just spit it out.
“What do you mean?” I asked again, swallowing hard.
“We can’t come to yoga anymore,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.
Then Kelli just started talking. . . Our minister says. . . blah blah blah. . . the Bible says blah blah blah. . . it isn’t Christian. . . blah blah blah. . . we are worried about your soul. . .yadda yadda yadda. . . maybe you want to come to church with us sometime? . . . blah blah blah.
I swallowed my tears with every sip of tea. By the time Kelli finished speaking, I had drained my cup but still kept trying to drink. It was easier to drink than to talk. I didn’t know what to say.
Evidently, both mega-churches in the affluent suburb had recently preached about the spiritual dangers of yoga. Apparently, one of the assistant pastors had even mentioned my name directly as someone who danced with the devil.
I was canceled, a decade before canceling was even a thing.
As a yoga-teaching, chakra-reading, shaman-practicing witch, I wasn’t afraid of “dancing with the devil,” especially since I didn’t believe in the devil.
But, I was afraid of bankruptcy.
I locked the door behind them, collapsed back on the lobby sofa and let all my swallowed tears tumble out of my mouth at once in a loud sob. Fear came and took his seat next to me. Drinking tea like we were old friends.
My worst fear was that my business would fail and I would go bankrupt.
I never imagined that it could happen like this.
Over the next three weeks, my class-sizes dropped by 80%.
Six weeks later, The Yoga Path closed its doors for the last time, and Fear forced me into friendship with Fear and his buddy Bankruptcy.
Lesson
Every entrepreneur knows the rollercoaster ride of feast and famine in business, and all the fears that come with it.
When I opened The Yoga Path, I went into the venture with no fear. My biggest mistake. I didn’t have enough reserves, or intestinal fortitude to fight the fight against the local mega-churches, or the skills to maneuver an over-turned cart back onto the road after a major spill.
What I did have, was a flexibility to PIVOT.
After The Yoga Path closed, one of my more loyal clients asked me for private sessions at her house, three times a week. She said she would pay whatever I charged. I actually felt guilty about asking for $100/class, but she handed me fistful of hundreds and said, that should cover the first two months then.
I let out a deep exhale.
Maybe I’ll be okay. Maybe.
One. Step. At. A. Time.
I line-danced with Fear and Bankruptcy.
Every time my phone rang, I braced for a creditor demanding I pay up. My stomach dropped into the deadly emotions of guilt, shame, and fear. How was I gonna get through this? Would this ever end? What else could Fear take from me? I didn’t think I had anything else to lose. I was wrong about that. Fear had plenty of gifts to give me.
Just. One. Step. At. A. Time.
My grandmother died suddenly on Christmas Day.
One more step.
Then, my mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer.
One more step.
Then, my former business partner stole my email list and opened her own yoga studio two miles away.
One more step.
I learned that Fear doesn’t dance quietly. And he doesn’t go away if you ask him to. He break-dances with a loud thumping boom box.
One more step.
I almost didn’t answer my phone when my friend Elizabeth called from Massachusetts.
“Would you consider coming to teach a series of chakra workshops at my friend Philip’s studio in Rhode Island?"
“You want me to do what?”
“Come out east. Teach here. Do chakra readings like you did for me. I can get you clients.”
Two months after Grandma’s funeral, three weeks after my mom’s hysterectomy deemed her cancer-free, and two days after my bankruptcy was officially discharged, I found myself on a plane to Boston.
This time, I had Fear as my Friend. He’d given me a a talisman to carry in my back pocket, as my protector. I now knew how to recognize red flags, that I had the skills and confidence and fight to face other challenges, and most imporantly, I had the courage to step forward and trust that solid ground would be there.
And so started the next ten years of my career, teaching in over 200 studios nationwide, logging over 20,000 hours of classes, and over 200,000 students.
Homework
When I started the Yoga Path, I didn’t have a healthy relationship with Fear. I ignored him entirely. I took out massive loans, ran full force towards whatever felt fun and right on the whim of a dream. I didn’t put any guardrails or protective mechanisms in place, and I didn’t pay attention to the warning flags and hazard lights. I was young and invincible. Or so I thought.
But, Fear came after me, and forced me to learn about the value of guardrails. I learned that we need Fear because He keeps us safe from doing really stupid things like running off a cliff because it looks like fun. (My cliff of $100K business debt that I figured I would pay off someday was really fun, until it wasn’t). On the flip side, when we live in too much fear, it limits our freedom, prevents adventure experiences, and lowers our quality of life. A healthy relationship with Fear is where we embrace Fear as a protective friend.
🔒 Mini-Course Mini-Lesson #2 - How to Make Friends with Fear
This short video lesson offers a simple exercise to balance a healthy level of security with a healthy level of fear.
If Fear is coming after you, and you don’t have anyplace left to hide, it might be time to make friends with Fear. I’ve been there, and I have coached many clients through the process.
