What happens when everything you've built suddenly feels like it was created for someone else's definition of success? Sara found herself asking a question that felt completely foreign: what does my heart actually want? Not what the industry says or what the next level of growth is supposed to look like. Just what does her heart want. And the answer was terrifying because it involved rest, trust, creativity, and play instead of more hustle, more systems, more metrics. This is the conversation about what happens when you stop chasing someone else's version of success and start asking what growth means when it comes from the inside out.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why growth doesn't always mean more volume, more revenue, more team, and what it looks like to redefine it from the inside
• The Italian concept of "dolce far niente" (the sweetness of nothing) and why American hustle culture keeps us disconnected from our hearts
• How Sara's best business quarter in three years came from stillness and alignment, not from forcing and strangle-holding productivity
• The gap between leading with frameworks versus leading with creativity, and why both matter at different stages of entrepreneurship
• Why sometimes the most growth-oriented thing you can do is make no decision at all and let the path unfold

Growth can be an internal thing. The metrics, the revenue, the expansion are just the fruit of the work you're doing inside, not something you have to control or rush after or grab. This episode is permission to not always have the answer, to let yourself feel lopsided while building a new muscle, and to trust that 2026 might be one of your best years not because you hustled harder, but because you finally let your heart lead.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 13th and 14th in Knoxville, TN. If you're ready to lead from a place that honors both the doing and the dreaming, this weekend is for you. Bring your whole team and experience what happens when you stop forcing growth and start allowing it. Sign up here.

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• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast

Email: [email protected]

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You know that moment when you finally collapse on Sunday night after saying yes to everything all week long? When you've skipped lunch to answer emails, scrolled Instagram instead of taking a real break, and promised yourself you'll start taking care of yourself after you hit that next milestone? Here's what nobody tells you about burnout: it doesn't start at work. It doesn't start with your demanding schedule or your chaotic team or your overwhelming to-do list. Burnout starts the moment you said yes to the thing you actually wanted to say no to. It starts when you abandoned yourself for the sake of everyone else. This is the conversation about the internal work of burnout that goes way deeper than self-care Sunday and face masks, where we get honest about the cycles we create, the identity traps we fall into, and what it actually takes to break the pattern of burning yourself out in the name of productivity.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why burnout is actually "burning the self" and how it's rooted in identity traps formed long before your current situation
• The dangerous cycle of over-giving in service professions and why you cannot carry your patients, clients, or team members
• Why your face mask and 15 minutes of red light therapy aren't actually solving your burnout when real self-care means saying no
• The practical reality of breaking burnout cycles through awareness, ownership, and asking for healing instead of just pushing through
• Why slower mornings and one intentional change matters more than overhauling your entire life at once

The life you're building is either going to honor your capacity or deplete it. That choice has always been yours, even when it didn't feel like it. This episode is your invitation to stop martyring yourself in the name of productivity and start asking what you actually need to feel whole.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 13th and 14th in Knoxville, TN. If you're tired of conferences that only focus on systems while ignoring the internal work that actually transforms how you lead, this weekend is for you. Bring your whole team and experience what happens when you stop burning out and start building from wholeness. Sign up here.

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• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast

Email: [email protected]

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When you're building a team, one of the biggest questions is: what benefits do I actually offer? PTO, sure. But how does it accrue? Do part-time employees get the same as full-time? What about holidays that fall on days you're not even open? And what's fair for maternity leave when you're not a massive corporation with endless resources? This episode is us breaking down the employee benefits we offer in our practices and the logistics behind them. From raise structures to bereavement policies to why floating holidays might solve a problem you didn't know you had.

🔥 In This Episode:

• How to structure raises and performance standards so your team knows exactly where they can grow within your company
• PTO accrual systems and why the way you structure it (hours worked vs. anniversary date) matters more than you think
• What should be included in bereavement policies beyond just immediate family members
• Maternity and paternity leave clauses that work for small businesses, including paid vs. unpaid time and return-to-work expectations
• Why floating holidays solve the problem of holidays that fall on days your business is already closed

If you've been avoiding the benefits conversation because you don't know where to start or what's fair to offer, this episode gives you a framework. You don't have to offer everything, but you do need to be clear about what you're offering and why. And remember: you can always amend your policies as your business grows and situations pop up that you never anticipated.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 12th and 13th! This is the deep dive workshop where we walk you through exercises like this in real time and help you build the kind of leadership that actually empowers your team.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]

Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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You think you know what you're feeling and why you're feeling it. You've identified the problem, you've made it make sense, you've got a logical explanation. But what if that's just the surface? What if there are deeper layers your heart is inviting you to explore? This episode is us sharing what happened in our recent coaching sessions when we realized there was so much more beneath what we thought we were processing.

Marisa shares how she thought she was navigating feelings about team dynamics and her new leadership role, only to discover it was actually about her dad and her husband. Sara shares a visceral dream she thought was about processing assault trauma, only to realize it was inviting her into something completely different about money, protection, and the terror that comes up when she doesn't feel financially secure. This is what it looks like when you stop trying to logic your way through feelings and actually let your heart speak.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why logic will try to make sense of your feelings but your heart just wants to be seen, heard, and talked to
• The invitation to explore something you don't initially resonate with and ask "if this were true, what would have to be true?"
• How stamping something with approval can actually be a way of avoiding processing a deeper feeling underneath
• Why healing and self-discovery literally never stop, and how the well of your heart has untapped potential you haven't even discovered yet
• The reminder that things are not always as they seem, and you need someone else to help you see what you can't see on your own

If you've been doing surface-level work and wondering why you keep hitting the same walls, this episode is your invitation to go deeper. Get a coach. Stop trying to logic your way through heart work. And be willing to discover that the thing you thought it was is probably not actually the thing at all.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 12th and 13th! This is the deep dive workshop where we walk you through exercises like this in real time and help you build the kind of leadership that actually empowers your team.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]

Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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This year taught us how to recognize when our ego was driving versus when our heart was leading. Sara spent the first half of the year wrapped up in performance, chasing money and success and notoriety, until she started asking herself "is this what my brain thinks I should want, or is this what my heart actually wants?" Marisa navigated building her business, hiring team, creating space for rest, only to realize she's been searching for stability in all the external things instead of finding it within herself. This episode is us reflecting on what 2025 taught us. How our egos got us to where we are (which is beautiful), and also how this year invited us to go deeper and discover what our hearts have been trying to tell us all along.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The difference between building your life from ego (for protection and safety) versus building from your true self
• How comparing your current reality to what you think it should be keeps you from celebrating what's actually working
• What it means to find internal stability instead of constantly looking for it in your business, your relationships, or your achievements
• The invitation to exist and trust instead of forcing outcomes, and why that's so fucking simple but not easy until you've journeyed through it

If you've been running hard all year and wondering why you still don't feel settled, this episode is your reminder to pause. Reflect on where you've been. Celebrate what's working. And stop measuring your life by metrics that were never meant for you in the first place.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 12th and 13th! This is the deep dive workshop where we walk you through exercises like this in real time and help you build the kind of leadership that actually empowers your team.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]

Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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We talk a lot about scaling your business, but nobody talks about what it actually takes to scale yourself as a leader first. The truth is, if you're frustrated with your team, resentful of clients who don't show up, or exhausted from giving so much to people who take without reciprocating, the problem isn't them. It's you. And we know that's hard to hear because we've both been there. This episode is about the shift that happens when you move from startup survival mode into actually leading an established business, and why the boundaries you didn't think you needed in year one become non-negotiable by year three.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why having the same team for a full year changes everything and what it takes to actually get there
• The startup to scaling transition and how your leadership has to evolve when you're no longer just trying to survive
• How to recognize when your ego is disguising itself as generosity and why saying yes to everyone is actually hurting your business
• The red rope analogy and why raising your standards for who gets access to your business is necessary as you scale
• The mirror test: how to look at yourself first when something in your business feels off or out of alignment

If you're in that messy middle stage where you're no longer a startup but don't quite feel established yet, or if you're realizing that the way you led your business in year one isn't working anymore, this episode is for you. Because you can't scale your business without scaling yourself first. And sometimes that means getting brutally honest about the people, energy, and situations you've been allowing in. We are imperfect leaders leading imperfect human beings, and that's the whole point.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 12th and 13th! This is the deep dive workshop where we walk you through exercises like this in real time and help you build the kind of leadership that actually empowers your team.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]

Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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We get asked all the time how to become a better leader. And here's the truth nobody wants to hear: it starts with you doing your own inner work first. You can't empower your team if you're not aware of your own stuff. You can't lead people through transformation if you haven't walked through it yourself. This isn't about reading more leadership books or implementing better systems. It's about radical ownership of who you are, what you're creating, and what's getting in your way.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The "I am and I create" framework that will shift how you see yourself, your business, and your leadership
• The four things your brain is constantly seeking (feel good, be right, be in control, look good) and how they keep you stuck in patterns
• Why "I cannot, so I should" is laced with guilt and shame, and how to shift to "I am, so I choose to, and I will"
• The practical ways to invite your team into their own heartwork journey once you've done the work yourself
• Why you have to actually let go when you delegate and how to build trust without micromanaging

If you're tired of surface level leadership tactics and ready to do the real work that creates lasting change in yourself and your team, this episode is your starting point. Because the quality of your leadership is a direct reflection of the quality of your inner work. Stop trying to fix your team and start looking at what you need to own first.

Mark Your Calendar: We're hosting another in-person HeartWork Leadership event March 12th and 13th! This is the deep dive workshop where we walk you through exercises like this in real time and help you build the kind of leadership that actually empowers your team.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]
• Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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We get asked all the time how we convert so many people from pain-based care into wellness and lifestyle adjustments. The answer isn't one magical conversation. It's a hundred small ones that happen from the moment someone sees your website to the moment they sign their wellness plan. You're either guiding the conversation proactively or you're scrambling to convince someone reactively. And one of those feels good, the other feels like you're selling something you shouldn't have to sell.

🔥 In This Episode:

• Why wellness care needs to be communicated from the first phone call, the tour, the paperwork, and every touchpoint before someone ever gets adjusted
• What table talk is and how we use our EHR system to prompt specific conversations at specific visit numbers so nobody falls through the cracks
• How to prep conversations at certain visits, reinforce them along the way, and have specific talking points throughout their journey before they finish their initial plan
• Why sharing stories of other patients (especially the hard cases and the flare-ups) builds more trust than only celebrating the wins
• The practice of tracking objections and questions to figure out where you need to add table talk earlier in the journey so you're not reactive

If you're noticing people dropping off after they feel better, or if you're having to convince people to stay instead of them already expecting to transition into wellness, this episode is your blueprint. Guide the conversation. Don't wait for them to make assumptions in their own heads that you then have to work backward from.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]

Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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We're getting ready to close out 2025 and step into 2026, which means vision casting season is here. But before you start setting a million goals that you'll feel like crap about not hitting, we need to talk about the difference between goals and objectives. Goals are specific, time-bound, results-driven. They aim for a destination and if you don't hit it, you can feel like a failure. Objectives are broader, flexible, focused on the journey and the learning along the way. They keep your hands open to magic you didn't even see coming. This episode is our full download on how we do vision casting and annual planning with our teams, why we celebrate before we strategize, why you don't need to plan the whole year in one meeting, and how to create space for your team to dream instead of just checking boxes.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The metrics we actually track in our practices and what we do with that data to inform where we're going next
• The homework we give our team before vision casting so they come prepared to celebrate and dream
• How to structure the meeting so it feels expansive instead of suffocating, and why the order actually matters
• How to break your vision down from big picture objectives into quarterly focus and then monthly actionable steps
• The invitation to loosen your grip on outcomes and celebrate the humans in front of you instead of just checking boxes

If you're someone who sets goals and then beats yourself up when life happens and things shift, this episode is your permission slip to loosen your grip. Celebrate where you've been, understand where you are, and dream about where you want to go. That's what vision casting is actually supposed to be.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]
• Download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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Custom cowgirl hats, fine line tattoos, cold plunges, and conversations that cracked people wide open. We just got back from Scottsdale for our second Expanders retreat with Stephanie Wigner and we are not the same. This is what happens when you stop competing and start calling each other forward. When the goal isn't to impress but to go deeper. When guards come down, ego gets checked at the door, and nobody's pretending anymore.

This weekend was about expansion in every direction. Quantum friendships that actually make you better. Honest conversations about how hard you're really working and whether it's even the right kind of work. Recognizing when your ego is trying to lead and choosing presence instead. Learning the difference between storytelling and story-selling. And being reminded that the rooms you choose to be in will either lift you up or keep you comfortable. This is our unfiltered download of everything that shook us, stretched us, and reminded us why we do any of this in the first place.

🔥 In This Episode:

• The difference between storytelling and story-selling, and why your content might be missing the part where you actually invite people into transformation
• Callan and Steph's conversation about working 60 to 80 hour weeks for a season, and why that's different than committing to a busy life forever
• Why your brand needs to answer simple questions for people who are struggling, not complicated explanations of what you do
• The ego activation that happens in rooms like this and how to recognize when you're performing instead of just being present
• How to evaluate whether your mentorship groups are actually encouraging growth or just creating competition

If you're in containers, masterminds, or mentorship groups right now, take a minute to ask yourself: are these people making me better or am I just trying to keep up? The rooms you put yourself in matter. And the friendships that come from those rooms can literally change the trajectory of your life and your business.

Connect with us:

• Instagram: @drsaranelsongray, @dr.marisa.nicole10, @theheartworkpodcast
• Email: [email protected]

Join our community: The Heart Work Life Facebook Group and download our Free Self Love Challenge PDF

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